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ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Four teams have already claimed a spot in the eight-team Great American Conference tournament at the end of the season, with Arkansas Tech, Oklahoma Baptist, Southwestern Oklahoma St. and East Central currently occupying spots one through four, respectively.
 
With a potential GAC tournament berth in the balance for Henderson State, sixth-place HSU battles in-state rival Harding in Searcy, Arkansas, Thursday, Oct. 28. First serve inside Rhodes-Reaves Field House is set for 6 p.m.
 
Henderson State (17-7, 6-5)
The Reddies are in a great position when it comes to making post-season conference play as they are currently three matches ahead of ninth-place Southern Nazarene with five regular season matches remaining – three of which are against the three bottom teams in the league.
 
If Henderson wants to clinch a spot in the conference tournament, a win in Searcy is only half the battle as it will need some help from Southeastern Oklahoma St. If HSU defeats Harding, the Reddies would then need the Savage Storm to beat Southern Nazarene in order to secure a post-season berth. That match takes place Thursday in Bethany, Oklahoma, at 7 p.m.
 
In order for that post-season berth opportunity to gain momentum, Henderson will have to do something it has not done since 2001: win in Searcy. The Lady Bisons have won 19 consecutive matches against HSU on their home court.
 
In this season's first match between these teams, Harding got the edge, 3-1, despite Violeta Mendoza Quintana having a match-high 17 kills. If HSU wants to pull off the upset, it will need fellow outside-hitter Mya Robinson to play of her best matches of the season after playing her worst match of her season in the first meeting with a -.135 attack percentage.
 
Mendoza Quintana has emerged as one of the premier attackers in the league as she is currently second with 289 kills. From a team standpoint, both programs are hitting .203 on the season, which is third in the league. Henderson is second in opponent attack percentage (.132) while Harding is seventh (.183).
 
Scouting Harding (11-8, 7-4)
Harding comes into this match off a rare home loss, falling to East Central, 3-2. The Tigers only scored four more points in the overall match than the Lady Bisons as each team won two sets by two points with the difference coming in the first set when ECU won, 25-21.
 
Middle Blocker Libby Hinton leads the team with 162 kills while McKinnon Kelli backs her up with 150 winners. McKinnon Skyler carries the title of the most efficient Lady Bison among the Harding attackers, boasting a .315 attack percentage.
 
Harding will clinch a spot in the post-season conference tournament with either a win over Henderson OR a Southern Nazarene loss. The Lady Bisons have played in every GAC Tournament since the inception of the conference in 2011.  
 
What To Watch For…
-Since the formation of the GAC in 2011, Henderson St. has only defeated Harding twice and has never won in Searcy. The Lady Bisons have not lost to a GAC team from the state of Arkansas on their home floor since Sept. 17, 2019.
 
-A berth in the GAC Tournament this year will give HSU four straight trips to the conference post-season and four of the five years that head coach Phil McDaniel has been at the helm. Prior to this run, the Reddies only qualified for one conference tournament from 2011-2017.