DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern Oklahoma State welcomes Southwestern Oklahoma State to the Bloomer Sullivan Gym on Thursday, Nov. 14, at 6 p.m. for the final showdown of the 2024 regular season.
Thursday's contest will also be SE's senior night, and the Savage Storm will recognize seniors
Ruthie Forson and
Michera Moffett before the first serve.
STORM WATCH
Southeastern (13-14, 8-7) clinched a spot in the GAC Tournament last time out with a 3-2 come-from-behind win on the road at Southern Nazarene. SE trailed the Crimson Storm 2-0 and would rattle off three straight set wins to complete the season sweep over SNU.
D'Nari Mills notched her fifth 20-kill match versus the Crimson Storm, finishing with 20 kills on a .242 attack average. The Cypress, Texas, native moved inside the Top 5 in total kills in Division II, ranking fourth with 427, while averaging 3.99 kills per set.
Noelia Rocha tallied her ninth double-digit kill match in Tuesday's win with 14 kills and hit a blistering .375. Rocha ranks third on the team with 226 kills and is averaging 2.19 per frame.
Forson dished out 44 assists versus Southern Nazarene, bringing her to a season-high 934 assists. The Denton, Texas native previously held a season-best 871 assists set in 2021 and needs nine more to move into the Top 10 in most assists in a single season by an SE player.
Patience Lewis already cracked the Top 10 in single-season digs with 601 on the year, which ranks fifth most after seeing a team-high 28 versus the Crimson Storm.
Southwestern Oklahoma State got the better of the Storm in the first meeting 3-1 inside the Pioneer Event Center. SE opened the match with a 25-22 set victory, but the Bulldogs roared back to win the next three frames. Mills and Forson tallied 14 and 10 kills, respectively, while Lewis recorded 31 digs.
Thursday's meeting will be the 38
th contest between Southeastern and Southwestern Oklahoma State. The Bulldogs have seen more recent success, with nine consecutive wins over the Storm in the last ten matchups, and lead the series 24-13. SE's most recent win versus SWOSU came at home in 2021 when the blue-and-gold swept the Bulldogs.
PREVIEWING SOUTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA STATE
Southwestern Oklahoma State (19-7, 14-1) captured the program's second GAC Regular Season Title on Tuesday night with a 3-1 win over Northwestern Oklahoma State, extending its win streak to six. The Bulldogs were the first team to secure a spot at the conference tournament and locked up the 1-Seed after last weekend's set of wins.
This week's AVCA National Player of the Week, Lacy Mott, leads the conference in kills per set with 4.08. Mott joins Mills as the only two players to reach 400 kills this season, having totaled 404 after seeing 50 kills last week. The Bulldogs have one of the best attacks in the conference, ranking second in points (17.29 pps) and hitting percentage (.233), and are third in kills (13.42 kps).
SWOSU is one of the most aggressive teams at the service line, with 1.84 aces per set and 182 total aces, which both lead the conference. Three players have reached 30 aces this season for the Bulldogs, led by Keke Holloway, who is ninth in the league with .33 aces per set.
