DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern Oklahoma State welcomes the Crimson Storm of Southern Nazarene to the Bloomer Sullivan Gym on Tuesday, Oct. 1, at 6 p.m.
STORM WATCH
Southeastern (4-8, 1-2) came up short on the road at Alva last time out, falling to Northwestern Oklahoma State 3-2 at the Perceful Fieldhouse. The Savage Storm battled back and forth with the Rangers, but a late run of points for NWOSU in the final set would be the difference maker.
Ruthie Forson continued an impressive week at Northwestern, finishing the match with 16 kills on a .652 attack average and 34 assists, 11 digs and 6.0 total blocks. The Denton, Texas native's 35 kill-week put her over 100 kills on the season with 108, while
Noelia Rocha would also reach 100 kills on the year after recording six against the Rangers. Forson remains the only player in the GAC to register a triple-double and ranks third across all Division II with three this season.
D'Nari Mills notched back-to-back double-figure kills matches last week, tallying 18 across five sets at Northwestern. Mills remains the conference leader in total kills (181) and kills per set (3.77), having reached double-digit kills in all but one match this season.
Flipping to the back row,
Patience Lewis is quickly closing in on her season-high digs total as she leads the side with 222 digs after seeing 25 against NWOSU. Last season, the Pearland, Texas native finished the year with 246 digs and now needs 24 to match her season-high. Lewis ranks fourth across the GAC with 4.63 digs per set and has tallied the seventh most total digs.
Southeastern did the double over Southern Nazarene last year for the first in the GAC era, sweeping the season series with 3-1 wins at home and on the road. Mills combined for 41 kills over the two matches, while Forson dished out 84 assists in the pair wins. Going into the 35
th meeting, SNU leads the all-time matchup 26-9, dating back to the first meeting in 2000.
PREVIEWING SOUTHERN NAZARENE
The Crimson Storm are still searching for their first conference win, having started GAC play 0-2 and are 3-10 overall. Like SE, Southern Nazarene is looking to return to winning ways, with three defeats in its last three matches, including a 3-1 loss at Oklahoma Baptist most recently.
Kate Wright leads the SNU attack with 115 kills on a .241 attack percentage. The freshman from Oak Point, Texas, paced the side with 18 kills against Oklahoma Baptist and has reached double-figure kills four times this season. Backing Wright on offense, Riley Richardson and Whitney Bowie are second and third on the team with 97 and 93 kills, respectively.
Helping pull the strings for the SNU attack is setter Emma Moddelmog, who leads the team with 359 assists. The sophomore ranks eighth in the league with 7.33 assists per set and is averaging 26.75 assists per match over the last four contests. Southern Nazarene is averaging 11.3 kills per on a .183 attack percentage but is allowing the most kills per frame (13.6) across the conference.
