ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – It has been 686 days since Henderson State last faced a Great American Conference opponent from Oklahoma, playing Southern Nazarene out of Bethany, Oklahoma, in the 2019 GAC Tournament. The last regular season match against a conference team from the Sooner State? Oct. 26, 2019 against Southwestern Oklahoma State.
 
Thursday, Oct. 7, the league will cross state lines once again when those same SWOSU Bulldogs come to Arkadelphia for the Reddies' sixth conference match of the season inside the Duke Wells Center at 6:30 p.m. on Protect and Serve Night.
 
24 hours later, on Friday, Oct. 8, the Northwestern Oklahoma State Rangers will venture east to the 'Delph in what will be HSU's 20th match of the season. First serve inside Duke Wells for the second match of the back-to-back is set for 6:30 p.m.    
 
Henderson State (14-4, 3-2)
Henderson is currently sporting a three-match winning streak, two of which were against conference opponents Southern Arkansas and Arkansas-Monticello. Most recently, the Reddies defeated Central Baptist College, 3-1, behind Christiane Uzoh's nine kills.
 
As a team, HSU is hitting .215 for third best in the league while holding its opponents to a conference-second-best .131 attack percentage. Assisting in the low opponent attack percentage is the Reddies' block numbers as they are first in the GAC with 152 total rejections (2.49 per set).
 
One additional area Henderson is excelling in is serving. Through 18 matches, HSU has 108 aces, which is the second most in the entire league. Leading the effort is freshman Madison Hatt, who has a team-high 22 aces, which also good enough for the second most among GAC players.
 
With the season being a little more than halfway over, Henderson State is sixth in the GAC standings. With four teams being 4-1 in conference play – one of those teams being Southwestern Oklahoma St. – only one match separates HSU from second-place Oklahoma Baptist.
 
Over the last 20 years, HSU and Southwestern have played 14 times, with 11 of those contests going the Bulldogs' way. The most recent victory for the Reddies came in the 2018 GAC Tournament Semifinals.
 
The all-time series against Northwestern Oklahoma St. is split evenly, 4-4, though HSU has won three of the last four matchups. This series has favored the home team with the hosts having won six of the eight meetings. The Reddies are 5-1 inside the Duke Wells Center this season.
 
Scouting Southwestern Oklahoma State (9-5, 4-1)
Since starting off the season 0-4, Southwestern has won nine of its last 10 matches. Most recently, SWOSU swept Randall University, 25-7, 25-18, 25-14. The Bulldogs hit .402 in the win.
 
Southwestern comes in right behind Henderson in attack percentage, seeing a fourth-best .195 clip. The Bulldogs are also fourth in the league in opponent attack percentage, holding the opposition to .179. In addition to being the kills leader on the team, Markenzie Benoit leads her squad with 56 blocks on the season.
 
Scouting Northwestern Oklahoma State (5-13, 1-4)
Northwestern is coming off one of its biggest wins of the season, defeating Oklahoma Christian, 3-2. Kaydee Honeycutt had a match-high 25 kills in the victory as she leads the Rangers with 201 winners. Backing her up is Addison Wimmer, who has 207 on the season.
 
While NWOSU is middle of the pack in attack percentage at seventh, it is last in opponent attack percentage, allowing the opposition to hit .227. Despite that stat, however, the Rangers have accumulated 95 blocks for sixth best in the conference.
 
What To Watch For…
-In the 14 matches over the last 20 years between Henderson State and Southwestern Oklahoma State, the Reddies have only beaten the Bulldogs in the regular season twice. They have never beaten them in the regular season since the formation of the GAC in 2011, with the most recent HSU victory coming in the post-season conference tournament.
 
-Makenzie Thoman is tied with Sydney Skelton for seventh all-time in digs with 1523. The junior libero needs 40 to move into sole possession of sixth place, surpassing Terri Shurtleff's count of 1562.