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ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Henderson State closed out the regular season winning its two final matches to finish 5-5 and claim the No. 3 seed in the Eastern division in the 2021 Great American Conference Volleyball Championships. The Reddies begin tournament play Tuesday, April 6 at 6:30 p.m. against the No. 6 seed Southern Arkansas inside the Duke Wells Center.
 
Henderson State (5-5, 5-5)
Henderson State closed out the season playing some of its best ball of the season, defeating Arkansas Tech, 3-2, and then finding victory on senior night against Ouachita Baptist, 3-1. Violeta Mendoza Quintana and Mya Robinson proved strong in the final two regular season outings as each girl saw 36 and 35 total kills, respectively. Mendoza Quintana also posted back-to-back double-doubles in the final respective matches.
 
Senior Abby Blackburn became only the eighth player in HSU history to surpass 1800 assists on senior night when she delivered 28 against OBU to reach 1805 for her career. The Blue Valley High School product also registered 35 assists against Tech in the prior contest to reach 63 through the final two matches.
 
Newcomer Brae Denton has brought a much needed defensive presence to the Reddies since moving into the rotation. The freshman middle blocker has seen six blocks in the past two contests, including four blocks against Ouachita Baptist, tying the team-lead in blocks that day (Brittany Barnekoff). In only 21 sets played, Denton has 17 total blocks, boasting a team-high 0.81 blocks per set.
 
With the 2020 fall season being absent of a conference tournament due to Covid-19, Henderson State made its last appearance in the postseason tournament in 2019. The then-No. 4 seed Reddies lost in the quarterfinals to No. 5 Southern Nazarene. Before that, HSU was the tournament runner-up in 2018 in head coach Phil McDaniel's second year at the helm.
 
In the two previous matches against Southern Arkansas this season, Henderson State has only given up one set, taking both contests, 3-1 and 3-0, respectively. In the season-opening four-set win over SAU, Robinson led the way with 12 kills while Barnekoff had three blocks. In the most recent meeting, Mendoza Quintana's five aces and nine kills helped the Reddies sweep the Muleriders, 3-0.
 
Southern Arkansas (1-9, 1-9)
Since pulling off the upset of No. 18 Arkansas Tech on their home floor back on Mar. 11, the Muleriders have lost three in row while only winning one set in those matches. In the win over ATU, Victoria White had 19 kills while Morgan Schuster had 44 assists. Abby Bermudez added five blocks in the triumph.
 
Morgan Gross and Lauren Smith lead SAU in several categories with Gross leading the team with 117 kills and 10 aces while Smith carries a team-high .253 attack percentage on 150 total attacks and has 23 total blocks. Gross led the Muleriders in attacks in both meetings against HSU this season with Smith seeing four blocks in the last contest against the Reddies.
 
With every team making the GAC Championships this year, this will be Southern Arkansas' first appearance in the postseason conference tournament since 2015 when SAU made it all the way to the conference final before falling to Southwestern Oklahoma St. This will be the Muleriders' first trip to the GAC tournament under second-year head coach Lindsey Parks.