GAC Volleyball Championships
 
BETHANY, Okla. — For the fourth straight year, and for the first year as defending champions, Southern Nazarene makes a trip to Hot Springs, Arkansas, for the Great American Conference Volleyball Championships.
 
The Crimson Storm (14-17, 9-7 GAC) enter the tournament as the fifth seed and will play fourth-seeded Northwestern Oklahoma State (20-10, 10-6 GAC) Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at the Bank of the Ozarks Arena. The Rangers won both meetings this year in Bethany and in Alva, 3-1. Northwestern has won three of the last five meetings with SNU, but the Storm own the all-time series 10-4 and are 8-4 since joining the GAC. This will be the first meeting between the Rangers and Storm at the GAC Championships.
 
The winner of the 7:30 p.m. game will take on the winner 5 p.m. game between top-seeded, and No. 9, Arkansas Tech (32-0, 16-0 GAC) and eighth-seeded Southeastern Oklahoma State (13-19, 8-8 GAC). SNU fell 3-1 to the regular season champion Golden Suns in their only match this season that was played in Sawyer. The Storm split their season series with Southeastern as each team protected home court with a 3-1 win. SNU is 3-4 all-time against Arkansas Tech and lost their only meeting with ATU in the 2014 GAC Championships finals. SNU is 19-7 all-time against Southeastern and 10-4 since joining the GAC. The Storms have met twice in the conference tournament with SNU winning both with 3-0 sweeps.
 
On the other side of the bracket is third-seeded Oklahoma Baptist (17-14, 11-5 GAC) and sixth-seeded Ouachita Baptist (19-11, 9-7 GAC) at noon, and second-seeded Harding (25-5, 13-3 GAC) versus seventh-seeded Southwestern Oklahoma State (13-19, 8-8 GAC) at 2:30 p.m. The Storm split the season series with Oklahoma Baptist as the Bison swept SNU in Bethany, 3-0, before the Storm knocked off OBU 3-2 in Shawnee in the final game of the regular season.  SNU is 12-14 all-time against Oklahoma Baptist, but has won two of the last three meetings. The Storm are 2-5 against the Bison since OBU joined the GAC and this is Oklahoma Baptist's first year of NCAA and GAC postseason eligibility. The Storm are 7-1 all-time against Ouachita with all of those matches coming in GAC play. SNU is also 2-0 against the Tigers in the GAC Championships.
 
The Storm lost it's only meeting with Harding falling 3-0 at home this year to Bisons. SNU is 1-5 all-time against Harding and the two have never met in the GAC Championships. The Crimson Storm swept the season series with Southwestern with a 3-1 win in Weatherford and a 3-0 sweep in Bethany. SNU is 15-5 all-time against SWOSU and is 9-4 against the Bulldogs in GAC play. The two have met just once in the GAC Championships and Southwestern won that meeting 3-0.
 
Southern Nazarene is 32-15 all-time against its side of the bracket and 35-25 against the other side of the bracket. It is 67-40 all-time against the 2017 tournament field. SNU owns a 6-2 record in the GAC Championships. It has reached the finals twice and won it last year.