ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Off an electric five-set victory over Arkansas-Monticello, Henderson State takes a brief hiatus from conference play to battle the Central Baptist Mustangs Saturday, Oct. 2. First serve in Conway, Arkansas, is set for 1 p.m. inside A.R. Reddin Fieldhouse.
 
Henderson State (13-4, 3-2)
The Reddies come into the match against CBU off a thrilling five-set win over Great American Conference opponent Arkansas-Monticello. Henderson even found itself down a set to begin things before stealing the momentum with taking sets two and three before the teams split the remaining sets.
 
Four players for HSU posted double-doubles on Thursday night, highlighted by Violeta Mendoza Quintana's 19-kill, 14-dig performance and Makenzie Thoman's season-high 36 digs and 13 assists. Mya Robinson and Madison Hatt were the other individuals to reach that feat.
 
In the three matches since her one-match absence, Mendoza Quintana has posted a pair of double-doubles and has seen an attack percentage of .226 or higher in each contest, including .462 against Southern Arkansas (Sept. 28). The junior outside hitter holds the second highest kills with 189 (Robinson, 191) and attack percentage at .254 (Christiane Uzoh, .318) on the team.
 
The Reddies have several players among the league's leaders in numerous categories. Beginning with the offense, Mendoza Quintana is third in the GAC with 3.32 kills per set and second with 3.76 points per set. Uzoh is fifth in the league with an attack percentage of .318.
 
Defensively, Thoman is tied for the second-most digs in the conference with 297 and third in digs per set (4.95). As a team, Henderson is first in blocks with 2.49 per set thanks to Kaitlyn Sykes and Brae Denton, who are each Top-5 among the conference in rejections.
 
Henderson State and Central Baptist have only met twice ever in the regular season, with HSU getting the nod both times. The Reddies and Mustangs played in an exhibition match to open the 2021 fall season, which Henderson won, 3-0.
 
Central Baptist (4-3-1, 1-0)
A member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), Central Baptist comes into this contest on a three-match winning streak, most recently having beaten conference opponent Lyon, 3-1.
 
Hamric Presley leads the Mustangs with 74 kills on a .260 attack percentage. Following Presley is Sabella Kylee with 71 kills. Lawrence Mikayla leads her squad's defensive effort with 159 digs through eight matches.
 
What To Watch For…
-Off a season-high 36 digs, junior libero Thoman became only the eighth player in HSU history to surpass 1500 digs with 1505. The O'Fallon, Missouri, native needs 19 digs to move past Sydney Skelton for seventh all-time.
 
-The Reddies have won six non-conference matches in a row with its last loss coming on Sept. 10. Henderson is winners of 18 of its last 20 out-of-conference matches.