OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City wraps up the volleyball regular season and celebrates Senior Day and Homecoming with two matches this weekend.
The Stars host USAO at 6 p.m. on Friday before wrapping up the regular season with a 1 p.m. contest against Mid-America Christian.
OCU Notebook
Senior Day: The Stars will send off their lone graduating senior
Marina Kalajdzic with a ceremony before the match on Saturday.
Next Up: Oklahoma City has secured a spot in the postseason tournament and this weekend can make a play for a higher seed. With two wins, the Stars could conceivably jump into a multi-team tied for a top-four seed. OCU is two wins behind Wayland Baptist, Oklahoma Panhandle State and Mid-America Christian. WBU and OPSU both visit front-runners Texas Wesleyan and Nelson this weekend.
Revenge Tour: Oklahoma City is 4-0 at home against teams that beat them on the road in the first half of the conference season. MACU is a target for that revenge this weekend. Wayland Baptist, Panhandle State, John Brown and College of the Ozarks all won first-half games on their courts against the Stars. OCU won all four rematches by a combined score of 12-3.
Trending: OCU is 7-2 at home this season, having won its last seven home matches. OCU averages 14.2 kills and 2.75 aces per set in the current home winning streak.
Grace Smallwood has averaged 4.71 kills and 4.17 digs per set in those five wins.
Natalie Adams is getting 11.5 assists per set in the streak.
Winning Numbers: In OCU's 14 wins this season,
Grace Smallwood averages 4.17 kills per set. As a team, OCU has a .240 attack percentage, led by Maddie Ewards at .376, in OCU victories this season.
Swing Away: Though she hasn't been SAC Attacker of the Week this season,
Grace Smallwood is tied second in the Sooner Athletic Conference with 3.85 kills per set.
Ready Set Go: Natalie Adams' 12-assist per set surge in the second half of the SAC season put her at a SAC-high 1005 for the season and 10.5 per set. She is seventh nationally in assists per set.
Giddy Digs: The Stars have a trio of players averaging better than three digs per set, led by
Grace Smallwood at 3.79.
Kaylie Marshall is at 3.45 and
Kate Cleofe averages 3.39.
Aces High: The Stars have been on the rise in service aces and now average 1.9 per set.
Natalie Adams leads the team with 45, which is fourth in the SAC.
Grace Smallwood has 32.
Last Match: Oklahoma City scratched another name off its 'revenge tour' list with a 3-0 win against John Brown on Saturday, 25-13, 25-15, 25-19.
Grace Smallwood had the double-double with 14 kills and 10 digs to lead the Stars.
Natalie Adams collected 33 assists.
History with USAO: The Stars are 17-0 against the Drovers, including a 3-0 win in Chickasha this season.
Grace Smallwood had 11 kills for OCU and Samantha Perez had a dozen for USAO.
Scouting the Drovers: USAO is 16-13 overall and 10-10 in the SAC after losing in three sets to both Wayland Baptist and Panhandle State in Chickasha last weekend. Chloe Conover leads USAO with 2.75 kills per set.
History with MACU: Mid-America Christian has won seven of the last eight meetings in the series, including a 3-1 home win earlier this season. Alica Obusekova had 13 kills for MACU and
Grace Smallwood had the same amount for OCU.
Scouting the Evangels: MACU is 17-10 overall and 13-7 in the Sooner Athletic Conference after 3-1 wins over Wayland Baptist and Panhandle State at home last weekend. Alica Obusekova leads the Evangels with 3.17 kills per set.
Setter of the Week: Natalie Adams again earned Sooner Athletic Conference Setter of the Week honors on Oct. 20. Adams paced the Stars to a 2-0 record last week with 109 assists for an average of 12.11 assists per set. Adams had 60 helpers in a 3-2 victory over Wayland Baptist while adding 49 assists in a 3-1 win over Panhandle State. Adams also added 29 digs over the two matches for an average of 3.22 digs per set. It is the second consecutive Setter of the Week honor for Adams, who has now claimed the honor three times this season. She also was honored on Sept. 15 and on Oct. 13.
2K: Natalie Adams had 32 assists in the home win over Langston to bring her to an even 2,000 for her career.
On to 300!: Coach
Kristen Coventon came into the season with 195 career coaching wins – 109 of those at Oklahoma City. The first Central Christian win this season was career win No. 200 for her. She picked up her 100th win of her Stars era at home against USAO on Sept. 28. Her win total now stands at 209 for her career and 123 at OCU.