DURANT, Okla. – No. 6 Southeastern Oklahoma State is set to face rivals No. 3 East Central in the first round of the 2024 Great American Conference Tournament at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 21 in Hot Springs, Ark. at the Bank OZK Arena.
STORM WATCH
Southeastern (13-15, 8-8) earned the No. 6 Seed spot at the conference tournament following a 1-1 week to close out the season. The Savage Storm defeated Southern Nazarene 3-2 to complete the season sweep before falling at home to Southwestern Oklahoma State in three sets.
D'Nari Mills wrapped up the regular season second in kills with 4.05 per set and led the league in total kills with 445 after recording 18 versus SWOSU. The Cypress, Texas native also notched her 19
th double-double, adding 11 digs to her totals.
Maci Morrison provided a spark off the bench in the two matches, combing for 16 kills, including a season-high ten against the Bulldogs, and 4.0 total blocks. Morrison this season has recorded 84 kills and ranks fourth on the team in blocks with 44.0.
Ruthie Forson continues to help conduct the attack with 8.83 assists per set, which ranks sixth in the GAC. Forson dished out 81 assists over the last two matches, including 37 in her last match, and added 14 kills to her totals. Up at the net,
Michera Moffett became the first player since 2014 to register more than 90.0 total blocks after seeing 2.0 against SWOSU. Moffett leads the side with 91.0 total blocks on the year and has notched a team-best 14 solo denials while averaging 0.83 blocks per set.
Southeastern fell in both of its matchups against East Central this season, following the most recent defeat to ECU back on Nov. 9 in Ada. The Tigers won both matches 3-2 and have now won the last eight contests versus the Storm. Forson and Mills combined for 29 kills in the most recent match, and Lewis would see 35 digs.
Thursday's contest between the Storm and Tigers will be the second time the two sides have faced each other in the conference tournament. The last time the two teams met in the postseason was in 2013 when ECU defeated SE 3-0 in the first round.
PREVIEWING EAST CENTRAL
East Central secured the No. 3 Seed at the GAC Tournament with an 11-5 mark in conference play and set a program record for most wins in a season with 17. The Tigers ended the regular season on a high note, winning their last three matches, including back-to-back 3-1 victories over Oklahoma Baptist and Southern Nazarene.
ECU's leading attacker, Odalys Gonzalez, was red-hot in the final two contests, combining for 44 kills on a .427 attack average. The senior ends the regular season fourth in kills with 3.62 per set and 355 total kills and is joined by teammate Emma Strickland, who ranks eighth with 3.25 kills per set.
Julia Kabala makes the attack go with 9.85 assists per set. The senior setter notched back-to-back 50-assist outings in the Tiger's last two wins, bringing her to 1064 total assists on the year. Kabala also ranks second in service aces with .43 per frame, having registered 46, and has totaled the third most digs on the team at 329.
