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ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Less than 24 hours off its biggest win of the season, Henderson State looks to add validation to its victory over former-first-place Arkansas Tech when the Arkansas-Monticello Blossoms come to town Thursday, November 4. First serve inside Duke Wells Center on Greek Night is set for 6:30 p.m.
 
Henderson State (18-8, 7-6)
It was not the usual suspects for the Reddies, but junior opposite hitter Tyasia McGruder who came through in a strong way for Henderson to help conjure up the upset. The Phoenix, Arizona, native matched her season-high with eight kills while hitting .233 in one of her best matches of the season.
 
The win marked the second season in a row Tech has come into the Duke Wells Center and has left with a 3-2 loss added to its resume. Over the last two seasons, HSU has enjoyed the confines of its home gym, sporting a 12-4 record when playing at home compared to 6-8 on the road.
 
Century marks were surpassed on the season by Violeta Mendoza and Kaitlyn Sykes on Tuesday. Mendoza Quintana now has 305 kills on the season while the sophomore middle blocker has claimed 105 blocks thanks to her eight against the Golden Suns, including five solo rejections.
 
Henderson will have to make sure it is not riding so high off its win over ATU that it overlooks a scrappy Arkansas-Monticello team. Despite being 3-10 in conference play, five of those losses have come in five-set matches, including the season's first meeting between the Blossoms and HSU.
 
In the first matchup with UAM back in September, the Reddies hit .158 compared to their season average of .197. The defense did its job, however, holding Monticello to a .119 clip compared to their opponents' .136 season average. Makenzie Thoman had 36 digs while Sykes added seven blocks to spearhead the defensive effort.
 
Scouting Arkansas-Monticello (9-17, 3-10)
Backing up the narrative of five of its GAC losses coming in five-set matches, Arkansas-Monticello comes into Thursday's contest with four of its last five matches going five sets, including its most recent 3-2 win over conference-foe Southern Arkansas. Sophomore outside hitter Riley Krenek led the way with 16 kills while hitting .355.
 
Sophomore right side Mikaela Brown backs up kills-leader Jamie Agnew with 206 winners on the season. On the defensive side of the ball, Brown leads UAM with 56 total blocks. Kalin Duncan (441) and Mia Smalls (448) act as the facilitators of the squad.
 
The Blossoms are currently 10th in the GAC standings, yet are only one match behind Northwestern and Southeastern Oklahoma St., who occupy spots eight and nine, respectively. In order to keep their post-season hopes alive, Arkansas-Monticello desperately needs a win Thursday with its final two matches coming against second-place Tech and fourth-place Harding.
 
What To Watch For…
-Henderson State has not lost to Arkansas-Monticello in Arkadelphia since 2015. The Reddies have also won eight of the last 10 overall meetings with the Blossoms.
 
-Mendoza Quintana and Mya Robinson have accumulated 446 and 441 kills for their HSU careers, respectively, as both outside hitters transferred in last year as juniors. Mendoza Quintana needs to average 18 kills per match with at least three matches remaining in the season to reach 500 while Robinson needs to average 19.67 kills per match.