After spending a weekend on the road, the East Central University volleyball team will return home to face its next five opponents at the Kerr Activities Center.  The home stand starts with a Friday, Oct. 3 march against Harding at 7 p.m. and includes a Saturday, Oct. 4 match against Arkansas Tech at 2 p.m. and a Tuesday, Oct. 7 match against Cameron at 7 p.m. over the next week.

Match Notes

The Coverage
Fans who can't be at the game can find links to live stats and live video on ECUTigers.com.  Go to the volleyball schedule page.  

Scouting Harding
The Bison are 8-4 overall and 3-1 in the Great American Conference.  The lone league loss came from Arkansas Tech (2-3), but all three wins have been a sweep.  Harding is close in most statistical categories, but has a clear advantage in hitting percentage .216 (579k-222e-1653ta) to .161 (499k-237e-1627ta).

Marindia Turner and Liv Savage are the key hitters to watch for the Bison.  Turner has 138 kills, a .230 (138k-40e-426ta) hitting percentage, four service aces, 126 digs and 16 (1-15) blocks.  Savage adds 122 kills, a .264 (122k-46e-288ta) attack percentage, 20 service aces and 49 (5-44) blocks.

Against the Bison
Last year the Tigers and Harding met just once, with the Bison earning a 0-3 win.

Junior Hayley Gerken leads the few returners for ECU with nine kills, a .333 (9k-2e-21ta) hitting percentage and four (1-3) blocks.  Sophomore Madison Seiler added 15 assists and five digs.

Liv Savage and Marindia Turner are the top returners for Harding.  Savage tallied 10 kills, a .350 (10k-3e-20ta) hitting percentage and four block assists, while Turner added eight kills.

The Series
This week's meeting will be just the sixth in the all-time series that dates back to 2009.  It is the only series against a GAC opponent that the Tigers have yet to earn a victory, with a 0-5 record and a 0-4 mark in league action.  The last meeting was Oct. 4 in Searcy (L, 0-3), with the last meeting in Ada coming Sept. 28, 2012 (L, 1-3).

Scouting Arkansas Tech
The Golden Suns are 12-5 overall and 4-1 in the GAC after playing two non-conference matches Tuesday at home.  ATU will face Southeastern before coming to battle with the Tigers Saturday.

The Golden Suns lead in all statistical categories, except blocks this season.  Their biggest advantages come in hitting percentage (.221 to .158) and service aces (1.7 to 0.9).  However, they trail 1.4 to 1.8 in blocks per set.

Emily Todd, Kaylee Konsella and Katie Huff lead the offensive charge for ATU.  Todd is hitting .208 (204k-89e-553ta) and adds 22 service aces, 157 digs and 28 (5-23) blocks.  Konsella adds a .294 (176k-60e-395ta) attack percentage, while Huff is hitting .299 (170k-63e-358ta) and adds 43 (11-32) blocks.

Against the Golden Suns
The two teams met twice last season, with one regular-season outing and a meeting in the GAC semifinals.

Junior Hayley Gerken is the only player to see significant time against ATU, with nine kills and four (2-2) blocks.

Emily Todd and Katie Huff lead the returners for the Golden Suns.  Todd tallied 13 kills, a .360 (13k-4e-25ta) hitting percentage, three service aces and 18 digs.  Huff added 12 kills and three (1-2) blocks.

The Series
The all-time series with ATU is one of the longest in school history, with 12 previous matches.  ECU currently trail 1-11 in the series, including a 0-4 mark in league action.  When playing in Ada the Tigers trail 1-4, with the lone win coming Sept. 16, 2009 (W, 3-1).  The last meeting at home was Sept. 29, 2012 (L, 1-3) and the last meeting overall was Nov. 22, 2013 (L, 0-3) at the GAC Championship.

Scouting Cameron
The Aggies are 6-7 overall and 1-5 in Lone Star Conference action, but will have two chances to improve their record before coming to Ada.  Cameron will play Texas A&M Kingsville Friday and Arkansas-Monticello Saturday.

The Aggies trail their opponents in the season box score total; with have a slight 1.2 to 1.1 advantage in service aces and 18.3 to 17.6 lead in digs.  Their biggest disadvantage is in hitting percentage at .159 to .201.

Against the Aggies
Last year the teams met in Ada as part of the South Central Classic.  Cameron picked up a 1-3 win.  

Junior Hayley Gerken tallied nine kills, a .350 (9k-2e-20ta) and five block assists in the match.

Kat Evans leads the returners from the Aggies, with 14 kills, a .206 (14k-7e-34ta) attack percentage and three service aces.

The Series
ECU and Cameron have met on four previous occasions with ECU trailing 1-3, including a 1-2 mark when they were playing as members of the LSC.  When playing in Ada the Tigers have yet to earn a win against Cameron (0-3).  The last meeting was a season ago (Sept. 14, 2013), with the Aggies earning a 1-3 win.

Mackenzie Making a Move
Freshman Mackenzie Davis had a strong week for the Tigers (Sept. 23-27).  Davis tallied 25 kills and a team-high .364 (25k-5e-55ta) hitting percentage.  She also added a team-best eight (1-7) blocks and three service aces in three matches.

Gerken's Golden Moment
Junior Hayley Gerken has a standout performance for ECU in the 3-2 win over St. Gregory's (9/20/14).  Gerken hit .812 (13k-0e-16ta), which would have been a school record for hitting percentage in a match had she gotten four more attempts.  She also added a dig and four (1-3) blocks.

That's a Kill for Gill
Freshman Madyson Gill has become a strong force for ECU early in the season, with three double-doubles at the South Central Classic.  She totaled 63 kills, five service aces, 62 digs and eight (3-5) blocks in the six matches.  She now has a total of six double-doubles on the season.

Simpson Stepping Up
Junior Sarah Simpson has started the season strong for the Tigers, leading the team with 147 kills and 13 service aces.  She is also fifth on the team with 119 digs.  Simpson is currently ranked No. 10 in GAC matches for kills per set (3.07).

Up Next
The Tigers will wrap up their five-match home stand next weekend with a GAC match against arch rival Southeastern, Thursday, Oct. 9 at 7 p.m. and a Friday, Oct. 10 match against Arkansas-Fort Smith.