Now is definitely the time for all good fans to come to the aid of Southeastern volleyball and football teams.

It’s Fall Break this weekend and both teams are at home. Fans will be a huge help when coach Jenn King’s volleyballers hit the floor Friday.

Please note: This is a day and time change from the original schedule cards. The Storm volleyballers will host Ouachita Baptist in a Great American Conference volleyball match at 2 p.m. Friday.

Coach Ray Richards’ footballers will host long-time foe Southwestern at 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon.

This has been a rough year for both teams, so come on out and give the guys and gals a boost. Giving them a boost will also give you a boost.

STORM VOLLEYBALLERS will be trying to find the magic touch here Friday afternoon.

As in all sports, consistency has been a problem this season. At times, the young ladies seem able to compete with and even defeat a bunch of teams. The excellence comes in spurts, however, and doesn’t last long enough to reach the win column.

The latest Great American Conference standings show Harding University as the lone undefeated team in conference play.

The Bisons are 8-0 in GAC competition and 18-6 overall.

Southern Arkansas (16-5) is second at 8-1 in league play with Arkansas Tech (19-7) third at 7-1. Southwestern (8-16) is fourth at 6-2 and Southern Nazarene (8-16) is fifth at 5-4.

Southern Nazarene and Northwestern are ineligible for regular-season and postseason championships, but are still shown with GAC records.

East Central (7-18) is 4-4 in conference play, Arkansas-Monticello (8-16) is 4-5, Ouachita Baptist (6-14) is 3-6, Henderson State (5-18) is 1-8, Southeastern (2-21) is 1-8 and Northwestern (1-20) is 0-8.

The Storm fell at Southwestern Tuesday night and has eight matches remaining before postseason play. The young squad features four juniors, three sophomores, four freshmen and no seniors.

Megan Kunkel, 5-9 freshman from Garland, Texas, Rowlett High school, leads the team in kills with 221 and Emily Gentle, 6-1 sophomore from Van Alystyne, Texas, and the University of Texas-Arlington, is second with 214. Taylor Benner, 5-7 junior from Soldatna, Alaska, and Flower Mound, Texas, High School, is the team leader with 267 digs and Kunkel has 206.

After Friday, Southeastern has only four home matches remaining.

STORM FOOTBALLERS will be gunning for two in a row after last weekend’s big win at Northwestern.

Southeastern and Southwestern first played in 1923 and the Savages were 16-7 winners. Both teams were members of the Oklahoma Collegiate Conference, the Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference, the Lone Star Conference and are now together in the Great American Conference.

Southeastern lists the overall record as 42-35-3 and each teams owns a 9-game winning streak. The Bulldogs won from 1977-85 and SE’s nine-game run was halted last year with a 23-20 loss.

Before that setback, Southeastern had strung nine straight starting with a 36-13 win in 2002. The Storm put up four games of 40 or more points in the run, including 47-14 in 2003, followed by 49-7 and 43-12 in successive seasons.

The latest GAC standings show two unbeaten teams with Henderson State No. 1 at 7-0 overall and 5-0 in league play.

Ouachita Baptist is second at 6-0 and 4-0. Southern Arkansas is third at 5-1 and 4-1 and Harding is fourth at 5-1 and 3-1.

Arkansas Tech is 4-3 and 2-2, East Central 3-4 and 1-3, Southwestern 1-5 and 1-4, Southeastern 2-4 and 0-4 and Arkansas-Monticello 1-6 and 0-5.

Southern Nazarene (1-6) and Northwestern (0-7) are not eligible for regular-season or postseason play this year.

One game at a time, sure, but it’s difficult to not look ahead to November 10 when Ouachita Baptist will trudge across the street to take on Henderson in the final regular-season game.

There is a good chance for both teams to reach that game undefeated.

Oklahoma Baptist is 10th in the latest AFCA Top 25 poll and Henderson State is No. 11. Harding lost to Henderson State last weekend and fell to No. 25.

THE STORM DEFEATED Northwestern 31-6 last weekend in Alva.

Other scores had Henderson State 38-10 at Harding; Ouachita Baptist 58-7 at Monticello; Arkansas Tech 45-37 at Southwestern; Southern Arkansas 19-0 at East Central; and Southern Nazarene 44-19 at Kansas Wesleyan.

BY THE NUMBERS:

Southeastern averages 28 points per game and Southwestern averages 22. Advantage, Storm by six.

Southeastern allows 28.5 points per game and Southwestern allows 37. Advantage, Storm by 8.5 ppg.

Heck, why play the game?

Southeastern rushes for 241.7 yards per game and SW allows 123. Something has to give.

Southeastern allows 132.2 yards per game and SW rushes for 137.5 ppg.

Passing favors the Bulldogs, 240 per game to 186 for the Storm. SE has the edge in pass defense, allowing 193.8 to SW’s 280.

Southeastern’s Jercolby Bradley rushes for 85.7 yards per game and SW’s Aaron Wilson, 5-10, 195 senior running back from Wichita, Kansas, and Butler CC, picks up 86.5 ypg.

SW quarterback Dustin Stenta, 5-11, 195 junior from Fort Worth, Texas, Keller High School, averages 240 per game in the air and Bradley averages 174.2 ppg.

Bradley has a slight edge in total offense, 259.8 to Stenta’s 252.3 ypg.

The numbers don’t provide a huge edge for either team and neither does the scoreboard.

The teams have four common opponents this year. Southeastern lost to Southern Arkansas 24-31 and SW fell 34-35.

SE lost to Henderson State 20-56 and Southwestern lost 22-50. Against Ouachita Baptist, it was 23-24 for the Storm and 12-53 for the Bulldogs. Arkansas Tech topped Southeastern 38-45 and Southwestern 37-45.

Neither team will make a run at the GAC title this year, but both teams will definitely make a run at each other Saturday afternoon at Paul Laird Field. Despite Fall Break, Southeastern will host volleyball at 2 p.m. Friday and football at 3 p.m. Saturday.