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ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – With a pair of GAC matches under its belt, Henderson State welcomes the Harding Lady Bisons to the Duke Wells Center for a massive early season Great American Conference showdown in its conference home opener Thursday, Sept. 23 at 6:30 p.m.   
 
Henderson State (11-3, 1-1)
After seeing seven straight wins, the Reddies suffered its first loss since Sept. 10 at the hands of Arkansas Tech in Russellville on Tuesday night, 3-1. Henderson was without defending GAC Newcomer of the Year, Violeta Mendoza Quintana, for the contest.
 
Being short one of its main hitters proved detrimental as HSU carried an attack percentage of .163 compared to its GAC third-best season average of .223. Christiane Uzoh led the Reddies with a .241 attack percentage on eight kills to only one error. Uzoh is currently sixth in the conference with an attack mark of .313.
 
Given Mendoza Quintana's questionable status heading into Thursday's match, HSU will have to lean heavily on junior outside hitter Mya Robinson. Robinson has posted four straight double-doubles and leads the team with 167 kills and is hitting .241.
 
Freshman Brae Denton now leads the squad with 54 total blocks, including a team-high 10 solo rejections. Denton and sophomore middle blocker Kaitlyn Sykes are one and two, respectively, in the entire league in blocks.
 
Henderson State has fared much better at home against the Lady Bisons than on the road in the all-time series as HSU is 17-18 when playing inside the Duke Wells Center compared to 0-18 on the road. The Reddies are 4-0 at home this season.
 
Scouting Harding (6-3, 2-0)
After being preseason ranked No. 18 in the country, the Lady Bisons received votes in the latest AVCA poll. Harding has won six of its last seven matches, including beating then-No. 15 Northern State, 3-1, after starting the year off 0-2 against a pair of Top-25 teams.
 
Through two conference matches, HU has been absolutely dominant, failing to allow a single set, sweeping both Southern Arkansas and Ouachita Baptist. In each contest, neither team has scored over 21 points in a given set.
 
Harding is led on the offensive end by Skyler McKinnon and Libby Hinton, who each have 80 kills through nine matches. McKinnon and Hinton lead the league in attack percentage with marks of .388 and .378, respectively. Sarah Morehead also leads the GAC with 9.81 assists per set.
 
What To Watch For…
-In last year's regular season match on Harding's home floor, Henderson handed the Lady Bisons their first set loss on their home floor since Oct. 19, 2019. This year, HU is again sporting a dominant streak, having swept five of its last six GAC opponents dating back to last season.
 
-Mya Robinson has five double-doubles this season, including four in a row. Henderson State volleyball legend Courtney Bolf saw a program record seven consecutive double-doubles during her record-breaking year in 2019.