MONTICELLO – The University of Arkansas at Monticello volleyball team returns to Steelman Fieldhouse for the first time since September 25 to host East Central on Friday, October 12 at 7 p.m. and Southeastern Oklahoma State on Saturday at 11 a.m.

UAM head coach Peter Cruz visited with uamsports.com on Thursday to discuss this weekend’s pair of Great American Conference contests. The full interview can be viewed at the following link: http://youtu.be/nik7G9QvdI8. The video is also available at uamsports.com.

The Cotton Blossoms enter this weekend with an overall record of 6-15 following four losses last weekend at the Southwest Baptist Regional Crossover Tournament. UAM is 2-4 in GAC matches this season, ranking seventh in the league.

The Cotton Blossoms could move to as high as fifth place in the league with a pair of wins this weekend and tie last year’s conference win total in the process.

First up for the Blossoms are the East Central Tigers, a team entering the weekend with an overall record of 6-16 and a conference record of 3-2. The Tigers defeated Oklahoma Baptist 3-2 on the road this past Tuesday and dropped four matches this past weekend in a regional crossover tournament in Topeka, Kan.

Southeastern Oklahoma State enters this weekend on a nine-match losing streak and an overall record of 2-18 this season. The Savage Storm is 1-5 in GAC matches, the only win coming in a three-set sweep over Northwestern Oklahoma State at home on September 11. Southeastern faces Southern Arkansas on Friday night in Magnolia before traveling to Monticello on Saturday.

Live statistics and live streaming video of both matches will be available at uamsports.com through the following links:
ECU Live Stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=8229
SOSU Live Stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=8230
Live Video (Both Matches): http://uamsports.com/sports/2010/10/18/listenlive.aspx?id=7