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ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Henderson State volleyball returns home for a pair of conference matches inside the Duke Wells Center on Friday and Saturday as the Reddies host Oklahoma Baptist and Southern Nazarene. HSU and OKBU will take the court on Oct. 20 at 4 p.m. before facing SNU at 2 p.m. on Oct. 21.
 
REDDIES REPORT
Henderson State (15-7, 6-3) split its pair of matches in the trip to the Sooner State with a 3-1 win over Southeastern Oklahoma State before falling to East Central in four sets. Through the halfway point of conference play, the Reddies are fourth in the league standings with a record of 6-3. Harding sits in first at 8-1, while Southwestern Oklahoma State and Oklahoma Baptist are tied for second at 7-2.
 
Violeta Mendoza Quintana led the attack over the two most recent matches with 24 kills, including 17 in the win over SE. Jagoda Szybinska has tallied double-figure kills in her last three matches, recording ten against Southeastern Oklahoma State and East Central. The Poznan, Poland native's 20 kills move her over 100 on the season, as she ranks fifth in team kills with 110.
 
At the net, middle blocker Brae Denton posted a career-high 14 kills against East Central on a .667 attack average and finished with 17 kills for the week while also tallying seven blocks. The Greenbrier, Ark. native is third in team kills (118) and second in total blocks (59.0).
 
In the ninth meeting between HSU and Oklahoma Baptist, the Bison hold a 5-3 advantage in the series over the Reddies. The two sides have split the last two matches in the Duke Wells Center with a 3-1 win for Henderson in 2018 and a 3-1 victory by OKBU in 2021.
 
A closely contested series between Henderson State and Southern Nazarene leans in favor of the Crimson Storm by one match as SNU leads 6-5. The Reddies have been the more successful team when playing in the Duke Wells Center, with a 3-1 home record. This season, HSU is 8-4 when playing under the home lights.
 
SCOUTING OKLAHOMA BAPTIST
The Bison are on a three-match win streak after sweeping their last three opponents and are 13-7 overall and 7-2 in conference matches. OKBU has won seven of its previous eight matches, with its last defeat coming against Harding (3-0) on Oct. 6.
 
In Oklahoma Baptist's last two matches, Jill Leslie has led the attack, combining for 24 kills on a .583 attack average against Southern Arkansas and UAM. For the season, the redshirt sophomore middle blocker paces the team with 173 kills and leads the GAC with a .370 attack average. Leslie also is the Bison's top defender at the net, with a team-high 57.0 total blocks.
 
Supporting Leslie in defense for OKBU is libero Maci Langford, who has 319 digs and ranks sixth in the GAC in total digs. As a unit, the Bison are first in blocks per set (2.14) and sixth in digs per frame (15.8) across the conference.
 
SCOUTING SOUTHERN NAZARENE
The Crimson Storm got their second win over Cameron this season, defeating the Aggies 3-0 in the midweek to improve to 14-8 overall. In conference play, SNU recently fell to Southern Arkansas 3-1 at home and sits tied for sixth in the GAC standings at 4-5.
 
SNU's leading attacker, Sunny Batschelett, recorded 14 kills in the team's win over Cameron and has double-digit kills in her last three matches. The senior from Ponca City, Okla. ranks fifth in the conference in total kills with 275 and is averaging 3.40 a set. Batschelett is one of three players to surpass 200 kills this season for the Crimson Storm, as Rayanna Mauldin and Tessa Henry have 211 and 201, respectively.
 
Setting up the fourth-best attack average (.206) in the conference is junior setter Kaley Brubaker. The Fort Worth, Texas native leads the team with 786 assists this season, which ranks second in the league, and is one of three players averaging over nine assists a set. Brubaker has logged 30 assists in each of her last seven matches, including 44 against Harding and 48 versus SAU.