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ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – After a shortened 2021 spring season, Henderson State gets a full 2021 fall season underway in Springfield, Missouri, with the Greenstay Inn & Suites Drury Invitational on Sept. 3-4. The tournament features HSU, Texas Woman's University, Missouri Southern State University, LeMoyne-Owen College and tournament host Drury University.
 
Henderson will play two doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday, opening with Texas Woman's on Friday, Sept. 3 at 12 p.m. and then Missouri Southern at 4 p.m. Saturday will see the Reddies battle LeMoyne-Owen at 9 a.m. before meeting the host Drury Lady Panthers at 3 p.m.
 
"This is a good opportunity for us to play some teams that are going to challenge us, play some teams that on paper…have probably finished higher than we have and some that have finished right even with us," head coach Phil McDaniel said. "It should be a good overall weekend of challenges, both on our side and stuff that the other teams bring at us as well"
 
Henderson State (0-0, 0-0)
Henderson State brings into the 2021 fall season the defending GAC Defensive Player of the Year and GAC Newcomer of the Year in Makenzie Thoman and Violeta Mendoza Quintana, respectively. In addition to Thoman and Mendoza Quintana, HSU returns Mya Robinson, who led the team with 149 kills last season.
 
Henderson State will have the play of veteran Tyasia McGruder this season as she sat out this past spring due to injury. The junior opposite hitter carries a career .184 attack percentage and 343 kills through two seasons.
 
The Reddies will have to replace two starters in Abby Blackburn and Brittany Barnekoff after losing the pair to graduation. Blackburn finds herself on the all-time list at Henderson, having accumulated the eighth most set assists in program history with 1838 assists. Barnekoff only played one season at HSU as a junior transfer, but was responsible for 28 total blocks in only 12 matches played.
 
Prior to this weekend's tournament in Springfield, Missouri, HSU got a taste of live-action with a scrimmage against Arkansas-Pine Bluff and then an exhibition match against Central Baptist College ahead of the season opener.
 
"Having those first two opportunities to get everybody out there and get some nerves out of the way, to get our young ones in there, to get our old ones back on the court, it served multiple purposes to get those [matches] in," McDaniel said. "Saw some good stuff certainly that we need to continue to build on and we saw some things that we need to get better at both with older players and returners."
 
The Reddies' first match of the round robin tournament against TWU will be HSU's first regular season out-of-state match in 677 days. The overall series with the Pioneers shows a slight edge to Texas Woman's, 8-6. The Reddies have dropped the last three meetings, with the last time these two have met coming in 2019.
 
From a three-match losing streak to a three-match winning streak, HSU has found three straight victories over its next opponent in MSSU. The last matchup came in 2019 with the match being played in Dallas, Texas, as a part of the DBU/Texas Woman's Crossover. Current-Reddies Tyasia McGruder and Makenzie Thoman led that match with 9 kills and 19 digs, respectively, in the 3-0 sweep.
 
Starting day two of the invitational is a date with LeMoyne-Owen, a team HSU has never lost to and has only allowed one set in the six matches making up the all-time series. In 2019, the Reddies and the Lady Magicians met twice – once at home and once on the road – to which HSU claimed a pair of shutouts.
 
Henderson's final match of the Drury Invitational will come against the tournament's namesake, the Drury Lady Panthers. It has been five years since these two squads matched up, with Drury getting the 3-0 sweep over HSU inside the Duke Wells Center. The Reddies do lead the overall series, 10-3, including a five-match winning streak from 1999-2004.  
 
Scouting Texas Woman's
Texas Woman's is led by sophomore Kaia Saylor, who led all Pioneers with 150 kills – 69 more than the second most on the team – through 12 matches this past spring. 6'1" junior setter Bailey Wozniak registered 239 set assists last year. Texas Woman's is led by head coach Jeff Huebner.   
 
Scouting Missouri Southern
Missouri Southern looks to replace its top two leaders in kills from last season in Janelle Brehm (81) and Alyssa Diaz (61). The Lions do return senior setter Sophie Mader, who had 234 set assists last season. Missouri Southern is led by head coach Kalie Mader.
 
Scouting LeMoyne-Owen
LeMoyne-Owen, who carried a 12-10 overall record two years ago, rosters six seniors and two juniors, in 2021. The Lady Magicians are led by head coach Reginald Morris.
 
Scouting Drury
Drury went .500 during this past spring season featuring a conference-only schedule. The Lady Panthers return their two-faceted attack force in Taylor Forth and Makina Wratten, who combined for 277 kills in 18 matches. Drury also brings back junior setter Gabby Birmingham, who led the way with 263 set assists last season. The Lady Panthers are led by head coach Jenifer Bahner as she begins her eighth year at DU.
 
What To Watch For…
-The Reddies are in the midst of their greatest success as an institution of the Great American Conference. In the fifth year of the Phil McDaniel's era in Arkadelphia, Henderson will attempt to punch its ticket to its fourth straight GAC Tournament. In 2018, HSU finished as runner-up in the Great American Conference Tournament, marking its highest finish as a member of the GAC.
 
-Makenzie Thoman ended the spring 2021 season with 1208 digs for her career. The junior libero sits just 28 digs out of tenth place all-time. With her having averaged just over 23 digs per match last season, the defending GAC Defensive Player of the Year is on pace to move into fifth all-time by regular season's end.
 
-Junior setter Taylor Scalzi has 1361 set assists for her career. With setter Abby Blackburn, who ended her career eighth all-time in program history with 1838 set assists, having graduated last spring, Scalzi will be in line for a greater work load in the 2021 fall season. The Flower Mound, Texas, native needs 24 assists to surpass Sariah Boney for tenth all-time.