ADA – The East Central University volleyball team will play three of its final four regular-season matches over the week, including the annual Senior Day match, Tuesday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. vs. Southern Nazarene.
The Tigers will then hit the road for the final matches of the season, starting with weekend matches at Southwestern (Friday, Nov. 4/7 p.m.) and Northwestern (Saturday, Nov. 5/2 p.m.).
Before Tuesday's match, ECU will honor its four seniors:
Dahyana Essix,
Madison Seiler,
Jessica Sullivan and
Amanda Fly.
With just two weeks left in the regular-season, ECU is sitting tied for eighth in the league standings with Southeastern and Southern Arkansas. This week's matches will be key for the Tigers to keep their hopes alive of making the 2016 Great American Conference tournament.
If the teams end up tied, the tie-breaker is a head-to-head record. Currently the Tigers are 1-1 against the two teams, but will face Southeastern, Thursday, Nov. 10 at 7 p.m.
Southern Nazarene is one of the four teams to have already solidified its spot in the GAC Championship Tournament, with a 14-10 overall record and an 8-5 mark in the league.
The Crimson Storm has six players with over 100 kills this season, but two of those are hitting over .200 for the season. McKayla Benner leads the team with a .278 (220k-77e-515ta) hitting percentage, eight service aces and 66 (11-55) blocks. Courtney Bowie adds a .217 (181k-78e-474ta) attack percentage and 44 (5-39 blocks).
In the first meeting between ECU and SNU, the Crimson Storm swept the match in Bethany, Okla. Junior
Kaci Harrison led the Tigers with 10 kills and nine digs, while junior
Alex Campbell added 10 kills. SNU was led by Lexie Matthews (8 kills, 2 blocks, 1 service ace) and Elyse Berlin (7 kills, 24 assists, 8 digs).
Southwestern comes into this week with a 10-14 overall record and a 6-5 mark in the GAC. The Bulldogs will first host Oklahoma Baptist (Tuesday), before hosting the Tigers.
SWOSU has one clear player to watch in Carly Zak. Zak has tallied a .230 (400k-146e-1104ta) attack percentage, 29 service aces, 221 digs and 37 (3-34) blocks.
In the meeting in Ada earlier this season, the Bulldogs earned a sweep of ECU. Junior
Madyson Gill led the Tigers with seven kills and eight digs, while junior
Alex Campbell added six kills and three digs. Zak tallied 15 kills, three service aces and four digs.
Northwestern has a 3-25 overall record and a 1-12 mark in the league and will play one match before hosting ECU, as they battle with Southeastern Friday.
The Rangers have four players with over 100 kills, with just one of those players tallying over 200 kills and a .200 hitting percentage. Natalie Fahey leads the team with a .240 (207k-73e-558ta) attack percentage, 35 service aces, 67 digs and 59 (6-53) blocks.
ECU claimed a 3-1 win in the first meeting this season at the Kerr Activities Center. Gill garnered 16 kills and five digs, junior Madison Mayer added 11 kills and junior
Mackenzie Davis added 10 kills and four (2-2) blocks. Hannah Williams led the Rangers with 10 kills and two digs, while Asia Pipkin added nine kills and eight digs.
