SE Travels to Ada for Rivalry Match Against East Central

DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern Oklahoma State heads up to Ada on Monday, Nov. 9, for a rivalry showdown with East Central at 7 p.m. in the Kerr Activities Center.
 
STORM WATCH
Southeastern (12-13, 7-6) picked up its seventh conference win, defeating Northwestern Oklahoma State in straight sets at home to split the season series. The Savage Storm jumped the Rangers in standings with the win into sixth and have built a two-match gap over Henderson State, Southern Arkansas, Arkansas Tech and Southern Nazarene, who are all tied for eighth.
 
Patience Lewis recorded a team-high18 digs versus the Rangers, bringing her to 538 total digs, and is one of two players across the GAC to reach 500 digs this season. Lewis remains third in the conference, averaging 5.55 per set. D'Nari Mills and Alexis Williams led the attack against the Rangers with 13 and ten kills, respectively. Mills ranks second in the GAC with 4.05 kills per set and 393 on the year, while Williams is averaging 1.70 from her middle blocker position.
 
Southeastern and East Central went back and forth in the first meeting, with the Tigers winning the match 3-2. ECU opened the contest, claiming the first two sets before SE stormed back to win the next two, but the Storm ran out of gas in the fifth as East Central won the final frame 15-9. Ruthie Forson led the attack with 19 kills and 42 assists, while Noelia Rocha and Mills combined for 29 kills.
 
SE will be looking to snap a seven-match losing streak to its rivals on Monday night in the 35^th meeting. Southeastern holds a slight edge over East Central in the all-time series 19-15. The Storm's last win over the Tigers was in Ada in 2021 when SE defeated ECU 3-2.
 
PREVIEWING EAST CENTRAL
East Central recently clinched a spot in the GAC Tournament despite its 3-0 defeat to Southwestern Oklahoma State. The Tigers became the fifth team to secure a postseason spot at 8-4 in the conference standings and are 14-13 overall.  
 
Setter Julia Kabala helps conduct an attack that averages 12.42 kills per set and hits .184 a clip. Kabala ranks fourth in the conference with 9.69 assists per set after dishing out 24 against Southwestern Oklahoma State and is fourth in service aces, averaging .39. The senior's efforts have the Tigers sixth in assists as a team in the conference, averaging 11.40 per set. 
 
Kabala helps set up two attackers, Odalys Gonzalez and Emma Strickland, who rank in the Top in kills with 3.48 and 3.20 kills per set, respectively. Gonzalez has totaled 296 kills in 85 sets on a .163 attack average, while Strickland has 298 kills across 93 sets. Most recently, the attacking duo combined for 17 of the team's 30 kills in the defeat at SWOSU.