HOT SPRINGS – Ouachita Baptist capped its historic run at the 2024 Great American Conference Volleyball Championships with a three-set victory against second-seeded Harding on Saturday from Bank OZK Arena.

The Tigers (22-9) became the lowest seed, five, to win the league’s volleyball title. They became the first to defeat three higher seeds en route to the title. Additionally, they joined Arkansas Tech, in 2021, as just the second team to defeat both the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in one year. The became the first first-time champion of the event since Oklahoma Baptist won for the first time in 2019.

The opening set saw Ouachita take an early 13-8 lead. Harding (22-9) answered by tallying seven of the subsequent eight points. Trailing 19-17, the Tigers rattled off seven consecutive points – four on Riley Braziel kills – to advance to set point. After four-straight points from the Lady Bisons, Braziel closed out the set with another kill.

A 10-3 spurt early in the second set put the Lady Bisons in front, 12-8. They maintained the three-point lead until the Tigers closed out the set with 11 of the final 15 points. Haley Fairchild scored two kills and a solo block. Braziel collected two more kills, as did Leah Gardner.

After eight ties early in the third set, the Tigers closed out the match in grand fashion – scoring 13 of the final 17 points – for a 25-16 set victory. Braziel scored three points -two kills plus an ace – and Gardner put the finishing touches on the championship victory with kills for the final two points.

Courtney Hanson captured Tournament MVP honors after averaging 12.08 assists and 4.83 digs per set in the three victories. On Saturday, she finished with 41 assists and 18 digs. Avery Jauz and Braziel joined Hanson on the All-Tournament Team. Jauz collected 25 digs against the Lady Bison and averaged 7.33 per set during the tournament. Her 88 total digs rank as the second-most in a single GAC Championship. Braziel led the Tigers with 13 kills.

Harding’s Tatum Fouche and Delaney Garner received All-Tournament honors. Fouche finished with 23 digs on Saturday and Garner registered nine kills. East Central’s Odalys Gonzalez and Southwestern Oklahoma State’s Lacy Mott filled out the seven member team.

The Tigers secure their first appearance in the NCAA Division II Championships in program history. They learn their opponent during Monday’s selection show. It streams on NCAA.com at 6:30 p.m. on Monday.

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ARKADELPHIA – Ouachita Baptist became the third Great American Conference school to win back-to-back Women’s Soccer Championship titles as the Tigers bested Oklahoma Baptist 4-3 in penalty kicks on Sunday from Kluck Field following a 0-0 contest.

Ouachita (8-7-4) equaled the feat set by Southwestern Oklahoma State, in 2012-13, and Harding, in 2015-16, by successfully defending the title. Madi Vana, Abbey Moore, McKenna Wright and Ava Dunagan converted their penalty kicks and Carina Chavarria – subbed into the game at the the beginning of the penalty kick phase – made two saves to secure the program’s fourth GAC Championship title. Sunday’s title represented the first instance in which they clinched on home soil. All three of their prior victories – 2014, Spring 2021 and 2023 – came on the road against that year’s top seed.

Oklahoma Baptist (6-6-7) recorded nine shots, five on target in the opening 45 minutes and limited the Tigers to just four shots, one on goal. In the second half, Ouachita registered four shots on goal as compared to three from Oklahoma Baptist.

The two starting goalkeepers – Claire Stoermer for Oklahoma Baptist and Taylor Hapgood for Ouachita Baptist – combined for 17 saves as the two teams played in just the second 0-0 final in league history. East Central and Ouachita Baptist played to a 0-0 draw in 2011.

The Tigers’ Teagan Jaussi received the Tournament MVP honor. She scored the winning goal in Friday’s semifinal against Southern Nazarene. Vana, Moore, Allison Reece and Sophia Valencia made added All-Tournament honors. Stoermer, Chloe Monroe and Sam Sheffield represented the Bison on the team.

Harding’s Carmen Gunn and Georgia Templeton plus Southern Nazarene’s Adison Johnson and Natalie Montanez filled out the 12-member All-Tournament Team.

The Tigers secured the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Women’s Soccer Championships. They’ll learn their opponent at 6:00 p.m. Monday during the NCAA Selection Show. They’ll make their third appearance in the NCAA Tournament having previously qualified in 2007 and last year.

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MAGNOLIA – Records, on records, on records. The (RV) Southern Arkansas Mulerider Football Team tied three individual Great American Conference records as well as broke one of its own offensive records from the program’s modern era. SAU Football moves on to 8-2 in the 2024 season for the second-consecutive season with eight or more wins. The final score between the Muleriders and Rangers of Northwestern Oklahoma State came out at 78-0. After the first quarter, Southern Arkansas held a 20-0 lead, but a 34-point second quarter would have the Muleriders leading 54-0 at halftime. Head Coach Brad Smiley made sure other players got their moment and they shined as bright as they could have, outscoring NWOSU 24-0 in the second half.

Where to begin with the Mulerider Offense, initially led by junior quarterback and four-time GAC Offensive Player of the Week? Southern Arkansas’ offense witnessed 790 yards of total offense, a new program record in the modern era that shattered the old record of 637 yards of offense against Henderson State back in the 2000 season when the Muleriders demolished the Reddies 86-0, the modern era scoring record for SAU Football.

The Blue and Gold’s 78 points tied the Great American Conference’s record for most points scored in game. The 11 touchdowns tied the record for most touchdowns in a contest for the league’s history, as it is just the fourth time in GAC history that a team has recorded 11 endzone trips and is the first since Henderson State defeated McKendree in September of 2013. That’s 11 years since a GAC member has scored 11 touchdowns in game.

Rushing the ball, Southern Arkansas’ offense recorded 403 yards seven rushing touchdowns. Ten Mulerider carried the rock and of those ten, the program’s leading rusher Jariq Scales led the pack with 112 yards on the ground with a long rush of 53 and one touchdown. Of those seven rushing touchdowns, six SAU ballcarriers accounted for those with Barton being the lone rusher with a pair of touchdowns.

Through the air, Southern Arkansas accounted for 387 passing yards with four touchdowns. 12 Muleriders recorded a reception with senior Rasheen Green recording 146 yards on five receptions, along of 52, and one touchdown. Four different members in the Blue and Gold threw a pass for the afternoon contest with Barton leading that group with 247 yards, completing 15 of his 19 attempts, throwing for two touchdowns. Redshirt freshman Adam Parker saw the field the majority of the second half and did not let up on the Rangers as the Natchitoches, Louisiana native completed seven of nine passes for 127 yards and a touchdown. The redshirt freshman stood in the pocket and took a lick from the NWOSU defensive line, but not without throwing over the shallow middle to senior Cole Williams on the crossing route. The senior, making his return from injury, went on for 80 yards to the crib. True freshman Colin Hitchcock completed a pair of passes for eight yards, and while he did not throw in his outing, fellow true freshman Caleb Johnson rushed four times for 49 yards with a long of 41 to the house for six, his first score of his career. Finally, and most certainly not least, in his final game at Rip Powell Field, Matthew Whitten took the handoff from Barton that took the focus off of 10 and had him sneak his way to the endzone where the Princeton, Louisiana native (Whitten) found his quarterback for the score.

Only two of the three records in the Great American Conference have been mentioned, that is because the third came from the Mulerider defense. SAU’ defense allowed just 53 yards total to the Rangers with 55 rushing yards, and yes, -2 passing yards. Those -2 ties both the GAC and Mulerider Football’s program record (1957 vs Arkansas-Monticello).

The Rangers saw the Southern Arkansas side of the field just once, and for one play at that. The NWOSU offense’s one play on the Muleriders’ side of the field resulted in a fumble for a five-yard loss back to their own side of the field.

The Muleriders await the results from around the country as they look to climb that Super Region Three ladder towards their first NCAA DII Playoff berth since 2003.

Southern Arkansas travels to Monticello, Arkansas for the final game of the 2024 regular season as the Muleriders take on the Boll Weevils in the 99^th edition of the Battle of the Timberlands.

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Saturday, Aug. 27
Missouri Baptist at Lyon

Thursday, Sept. 1
Arkansas-Monticello at Southern Nazarene
Missouri State at Central Arkansas
Northwestern Oklahoma at Southern Arkansas
Ouachita at Oklahoma Baptist
Southwestern Oklahoma at Henderson State

Saturday, Sept. 3
Arkansas Tech at Southeastern Oklahoma
Austin at Hendrix
Cincinnati vs. Arkansas
Grambling State at Arkansas State
Harding at East Central
Lane at Arkansa-Pine Bluff
OUAZ at Lyon

Saturday, Sept. 10
Arkansas State at Ohio State
Central Arkansas at Ole Miss
East Central at Arkansas Tech
Henderson State at Northwestern Oklahoma
Hendrix at Washington
Lyon at Wayland Baptist
North American at Arkansas-Pine Bluff
Oklahoma Baptist at Arkansas-Monticello
South Carolina vs. Arkansas
Southern Arkansas at Southwestern Oklahoma
Southern Nazarene at Ouachita
Southeastern Oklahoma at Harding

Saturday, Sept. 17
Arkansas State at Memphis
Arkansas-Monticello at Henderson State
Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Oklahoma State
Central Arkansas at Idaho State
Hendrix vs. Howard Payne
Missouri State vs. Arkansas
Ouachita at Arkansas Tech
Southern Arkansas at Harding

Saturday, Sept. 24
Arkansas vs. Texas A&M
Arkansas State at Old Dominion
Arkansas Tech at Arkansas-Monticello
Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Alcorn State
Central Arkansas at Southeast Missouri
Harding at Ouachita
Henderson State at Southern Arkansas
Oklahoma Panhandle at Lyon

Saturday, Oct. 1
Alabama at Arkansas
Arkansas-Monticello at Southwestern Oklahoma
Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Southern
Austin Peay at Central Arkansas
East Central at Southern Arkansas
Lyon at Langston
Oklahoma Baptist at Harding
Ouachita at Northwestern Oklahoma
Southeastern Oklahoma at Henderson State
Southern Nazarene at Arkansas Tech
Trinity at Hendrix
ULM at Arkansas State

Saturday, Oct. 8
Arkansas at Mississippi State
Arkansas Tech at Oklahoma Baptist
Harding at Southern Nazarene
Henderson State at East Central
Hendrix at Millsaps
James Madison at Arkansas State
Lindenwood at Central Arkansas
Lyon at Arizona Christian
Northwestern Oklahoma at Arkansas-Monticello
Southern Arkansas at Southeastern Oklahoma
Southwestern Oklahoma at Ouachita
Texas Southern at Arkansas-Pine Bluff

Saturday, Oct. 15
Arkansas at BYU
Arkansas State at Southern Miss
Arkansas-Monticello at Ouachita
Central Arkansas at Kennesaw State
Henderson State at Harding
Sewanee at Hendrix
Southern Arkansas at Arkansas Tech
Texas College at Lyon

Sunday, Oct. 16
Arkansas-Pine Bluff vs. Alabama A&M

Saturday, Oct. 22
Arkansas State at Louisiana
Arkansas Tech at Henderson State
Centre at Hendrix
Harding at Arkansas-Monticello
Ouachita at Southern Arkansas
SAGU at Lyon

Saturday, Oct. 29
Arkansas at Auburn
Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Florida A&M
East Central at Ouachita
Henderson State at Southern Nazarene
Hendrix at Birmingham-Southern
North Alabama at Central Arkansas
Northwestern Oklahoma at Harding
South Alabama at Arkansas State
Southeastern Oklahoma at Arkansas-Monticello
Southern Arkansas at Oklahoma Baptist
Southwestern Oklahoma at Arkansas Tech

Saturday, Nov. 5
Arkansas Tech at Northwestern Oklahoma
Arkansas-Monticello at East Central
Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Grambling State
Central Arkansas at Eastern Kentucky
Harding at Southwestern Oklahoma
Liberty at Arkansas
Lyon at Louisiana Christian
Oklahoma Baptist at Henderson State
Ouachita at Southeastern Oklahoma
Rhodes at Hendrix
Southern Nazarene at Southern Arkansas

Saturday, Nov. 12
Arkansas Tech at Harding
Central Arkansas at Stephen F. Austin
Hendrix at Berry
Lyon at Texas Wesleyan
Ole Miss at Arkansas
Ouachita at Henderson State
Prairie View A&M at Arkansas-Pine Bluff
Southern Arkansas at Arkansas-Monticello
UMass at Arkansas State

Saturday, Nov. 19
Arkansas State at Texas State
Jacksonville at Central Arkansas
LSU at Arkansas

Thursday, Nov. 25
Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Alabama State

Friday, Nov. 26
Arkansas at Missouri
Troy at Arkansas State

The post 2022 Arkansas college football composite schedule appeared first on ArkansasSports.Net.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. –  Inclement weather in the Bentonville area has delayed the start of 2022 Under Armour Great American Conference Softball Championships until Saturday morning.

Thursday’s scheduled quarterfinals will now be played on Saturday with the same start times. The semifinals will take place at 11:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on Sunday with the final slated for a 6 p.m. first pitch.

SATURDAY, MAY 7
Game 1 11:00 a.m. Quarterfinal #1 – No. 4 Southern Nazarene vs No. 5 Oklahoma Baptist
Game 2 1:30 p.m. Quarterfinal #2 – No. 1 Arkansas Tech vs No. 8 Arkansas-Monticello
Game 3 4:00 p.m. Quarterfinal #3 – No. 2 Southern Arkansas vs No. 7 Ouachita
Game 4 6:30 p.m. Quarterfinal #4 – No. 3 Harding vs No. 6 Southeastern Oklahoma State

SUNDAY, MAY 8
Game 5 11:00 a.m. Semifinal #1: Winner Game 1 vs Winner Game 2
Game 6 1:30 p.m. Semifinal #2: Winner Game 3 vs Winner Game 4
Game 7 6:00 p.m. Championship: Winner Game 5 vs Winner Game 6

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WEATHERFORD, Okla. — After falling behind 67-66 with 3:40 left on Saturday, Henderson State closed the game on a 14-3 run to defeat Southwestern Oklahoma State 80-70 at the Pioneer Cellular Event Center.

The win was the 100th for head coach Jimmy Elgas at Henderson State. Elgas becomes just the fourth coach in program history to win 100 or more games at the school, joining Don Dyer (316), Rand Chappell (120) and Grady Bean (101).

Five different players scored in double figures for the Reddies (8-5, 4-3) in the victory. Malik Riddle finished with a team-high 17 points — 14 of which came in the second half. Ryan Boyce had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Xavier Davenport added 12 and Quawn Marshall and Alvin Miles each had 11.

After a back-and-forth start, Henderson was in control of the game for most of the afternoon. The lead changed hands 12 times in the first 15 minutes of the opening half, but with the score knotted at 22-22, the Reddies put together a big run. HSU used 3-pointers from Riddle and Miles, as well as an alley-oop jam from Boyce, to power an 11-1 run and surge in front 33-23 at the 2:39 mark.

SWOSU looked to steal some momentum before the break, and used an 8-0 spurt to trim the deficit to 33-31, but a 3-pointer from Graham Chenault in the last minute of the half and a buzzer-beating jumper from Miles reestablished a 38-31 lead for Henderson after 20 minutes. The Reddies hit four 3-pointers in the last five minutes of the period.

The Bulldogs scored the first five points of the second half to trim the lead down to 38-36, but HSU had an answer and got five quick points from Riddle to help extend the advantage back out to 45-36 with 15:13 remaining. Henderson continued to slowly stretch the lead over the next several minutes, as back-to-back 3-pointers from Miles and Davenport gave the Reddies their largest lead of the game, 56-45, at the 11:33 mark.

Although Southwestern continued to try and climb back, HSU was able to keep them at bay as the game entered its final stretch. The Bulldogs got as close at 59-55 with 8:24 left behind a 10-3 run, but a 3-pointer from Riddle and a bucket from Boyce helped Henderson go up 64-57 with 6:54 to go.

At that moment, the game flipped in SWOSU’s favor. After leading for the entire second half, the Reddies watched as Southwestern put together a 10-2 run over the next three minutes and seized a 67-66 advantage with 3:40 remaining in the game.

With the momentum suddenly on the home team’s bench and trailing for the first time since the first half, the Reddies answered the bell with the run that would define the game. A jumper from Boyce quickly gave the lead back to HSU and back-to-back driving layups from Marshall on the next two possessions stretched the advantage to 72-67 at the 1:39 mark.

A 3-pointer from the Bulldogs, which would prove to be their last points of the game, cut the deficit to 72-70 with 1:13 left, but Henderson was too much in the final minute. Marshall again came through with a slicing lay-in to make it 74-70 on the ensuing possession for HSU and the Reddies locked down SWOSU on the other end. Southwestern missed four shots and committed a turnover in the last 35 seconds, as Henderson was able to salt the game away at the free throw line and win it, 80-70.

The Reddies shot a scorching 69.6% (16-of-23) from the floor in the second half and hit a season-high 11 3-pointers in the game. Henderson also shared the ball exceptionally well and finished with 22 assists — the most in a single game for the program since 2019. The victory was the 11th-straight for HSU over Southwestern Oklahoma.

Henderson returns to the floor on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. when it hosts rival Ouachita Baptist at the Duke Wells Center.

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ADA, Okla. – Junior guard Blake Rogers registered a career-high 26 points, the most by a Mulerider this season, and senior forward Devante Brooks filled up his stat ledger with a double-double for the ninth time this year and for the eighth-consecutive game, but Southern Arkansas was slowed late on the road Thursday night in Ada as East Central topped the Muleriders 81-77 in Great American Conference action. The defeat snaps a four-game winning streak by SAU and drops the team’s overall record to 9-4 with a 5-2 mark in league play.

Rogers matched the highest made shot output by a Mulerider this season with nine. He added one assist and one rebound. Brooks’ ninth double-double was a result of 19 points and 11 rebounds with one steal and an assist.

The contest saw eight lead changes with seven coming in the second half to go along with six tied scores, four of which occurred in the final twenty minutes of play.

A layup by Brooks cut the SAU deficit to a penny at 65-64 with 4:47 to play. The Tigers responded with a three-point bucket to go up four points, but it was an ‘and-1’ effort from senior guard Aaron Lucas at the 2:33 mark that again brought the Muleriders to within a point of the Tiger lead at 68-67. Over the next 70 seconds, ECU quickly engineered a 7-0 run to lead 74-67 with 1:02 to play. East Central’s lead grew to as much as nine points in the final sixty seconds before nestling at four by the final horn.

The Tigers scored ten of the game’s first 13 points as ECU built a seven-point advantage at the 13:42 mark of the opening 20 minutes of play. However, the Muleriders, much like Stella, would find their groove and engineer a 14-6 run which led to the visitor’s first lead of the contest at 17-16 with 9:11 remaining in the first half.

Aiding that stretch of +8 scoring was junior guard Kris Wyche who delivered eight points on three shots including the go-ahead trifecta. Rogers picked up for Wyche moments later as the Mississippian scored nine of SAU’s next 13 points, which included seven straight and a conversion on an old-fashioned three-point play, as the Muleriders built a 30-23 lead just prior to the under-4 media timeout.

Rogers also produced a personal 7-0 run in the second half which gave the Muleriders its last lead of the night at 62-60 with 7:19 left.

Brooks added the final two buckets for the Muleriders in the first half as the Shreveport native entered the intermission a rebound shy of a double-double. SAU led 34-30 after East Central converted a driving shot at the horn to cap the first 20 minutes of action.

ECU dominated inside outscoring the Muleriders by 18 points in the paint in addition to grabbing ten more rebounds.

On Saturday, the Muleriders head south to Durant as a 3 p.m. tipoff with Southeastern Oklahoma State inside Bloomer Sullivan Arena wraps up the team’s first Oklahoma swing of the season.

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SEARCY – For the seventh time since 2012, the Harding football finished the season ranked in the American Football Coaches’ Association Top 25. The 2021 team landed 10th in the final poll, its third time to finish in the top 10.

Harding went 11-2 this season and won the Great American Conference championship with a 10-1 conference record. The Bisons advanced to the NCAA Division II Playoffs for the fifth straight season and reached the second round of the playoffs after defeating Washburn 30-14.

Harding’s highest postseason finish came in 2016 and 2017 when the Bisons were No. 6 in the final poll.

The only other GAC team in the top 25 was Ouachita Baptist at No. 23.

MasseyRatings.com had Harding No. 6 in its final ratings. D2Football.com has not released its final poll.

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MAGNOLIA – For the third consecutive game, Southern Arkansas reached the century mark in scoring and on Tuesday evening inside the W.T. Watson Center it was the 109^th shot attempt from the Muleriders that broke the single-game scoring record as sophomore guard Jenae Jennings drove inside the paint for the final bucket at the horn as SAU topped Champion Christian 115-65 in the former’s final nonconference game of the season.

The Muleriders (7-2) have now scored 100+ points in four games this season after having eclipsed triple digits in scoring just six times since 1995-96 entering this season. The new single-game scoring mark of 115 tops the 114-point output against Wiley College during the 1997-98 season. SAU scored 22 first-quarter points, opened up the contest with 37 points before the intermission and finished with 56 points in the second half.

Fourteen Muleriders played in the blowout win with five scoring in double figures and bench players accounting for 82 points. Junior guard Jessica Jones led SAU with 15 points and finished a rebound shy of a double-double, while adding four assists and a steal. Sophomore guard Braydyn Hill followed with a dozen points as she made all five of her attempts from the field to go along with three assists and three steals.

Three players scored 11 points as junior guard Kenzie Ezekiel, senior forward Maggie Evans, and junior forward Doriana Brown rounded out scoring. Evans added nine rebounds, six steals and two assists. Brown recorded five rebounds, two assists and a steal. Senior forward Lillie Moore registered 16 rebounds and was a basket shy of a double-double.

SAU grabbed a single-game program record 80 rebounds which included 37 on the offensive end of the floor. The team’s 42 field goals made are the third-most in a single game. The Muleriders forced 33 turnovers which led to 33 points and collected 24 steals (T5th most in single game).

Champion Christian scored the game’s first seven points, before the Muleriders ended the opening ten minutes on a 22-7 run. SAU took its final lead at 8-7, and while the Tigers tied the game at 10, the Muleriders would not allow the visitors to regain the lead. Southern Arkansas shot a quarter-best 43.3% in the second ten minutes which included a 41% success rate from beyond-the-arc in the same time period.

Southern Arkansas faces one more test before the Christmas holiday. The Muleriders hit the road on Saturday for a 1 p.m. tipoff in Russellville against Arkansas Tech. Live coverage links for all of the action inside Tucker Coliseum are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.

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RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. — Following one of the best receiving performances in school history against UAM, Henderson State’s L’liott Curry was named Great American Conference Offensive Player of the Week on Monday.

Curry was simply unstoppable against the Boll Weevils and finished the night with 10 receptions for a career-high 228 yards and four touchdowns. The senior from Guthrie, Okla. pulled in touchdown catches of 6, 48, 58, and 62 yards in the 58-18 win.

His 228 receiving yards were the fourth-most in a single game in school history and his four touchdowns marked only the second time in the last 20 years that a Reddie receiver has pulled in four or more touchdown passes.

Curry, who was a 2021 Preseason All-American by multiple publications, has lived up to that billing so far and leads the GAC with 416 receiving yards. He is second in the league with five touchdowns and is averaging a conference-best 138.7 yards per game. The GAC weekly award is the second of Curry’s career at Henderson and is the first for a Reddie this season.

The Reddies (3-0) face their toughest test of the season this Saturday night when they host rival Southern Arkansas at 6 p.m. inside Carpenter-Haygood Stadium and Ruggles Field.

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