BETHANY, Okla. — Staring down a comeback attempt that was starting to look familiar, the Arkansas Tech women's volleyball team shut down Southern Nazarene in the fifth set to preserve a 3-2 victory and remain perfect in Great American Conference play Friday afternoon.

The Golden Suns (19-5, 11-0 GAC) turned back the Crimson Storm (11-13, 7-3 GAC) to earn their 13th consecutive victory this season and run their conference winning streak to 24 straight matches dating back to last season. In the process, they opened up a two-game lead on the rest of the league. It was the third straight meeting to go five sets between the two teams, with SNU earning a win after shutting down a comeback attempt last regular season, and Tech charging back to win the final two sets in the GAC title match eight weeks later.

Senior Katie Huff posted 12 kills on a .478 hitting percentage and added six blocks, while fellow middle McCall Wilkins tallied 13 kills on .308 hitting and two blocks. Freshman Hunter Eshnaur led the way with 16 kills, three aces and two blocks, while classmate Sarita Stegall dished out 44 assists and notched three aces of her own and two blocks.

Defensively, sophomore Madison Nagel had her second straight 20-dig night, putting up 21, while senior Kaci Jackson added 11 digs to go with four kills and three blocks. Junior Kaylee Konsella put up six kills, four digs and two aces as well. The Golden Suns hit .205 as a team, putting together 8.5 blocks and nine aces.

The deciding set was the first one of the afternoon that saw Tech grab the first point, and that wound up boding well for the Suns, who got a kill from Huff to start, a block from Huff and Jackson, and a Konsella ace to go with two SNU errors to take a 5-0 lead out of the gate. A kill by Jackson and a block from Huff, Stegall and Eshnaur pushed the lead to 7-1 after SNU netted its first point. An 8-2 lead shrunk to 8-6 when the Storm made its final attempt, but a Wilkins kill, followed by a Stegall ace and another SNU error quickly pushed the lead back to five. The teams traded kills over the next five points, with the Storm pulling as close as 13-9, but Huff's third kill of the set and a ball-handling error brought the match to a close.

"Even though we didn't play outstanding, we were still able to fight through it and come away with the win," coach Kristy Bayer said. "SNU is a tough-serving, aggressive team who went at us hard. We got out of our offensive rhythm a bit, but in the end, we were able to persevere.

"We saw some good offensive production out of our middles tonight to help get us there."

Much like Thursday night's impressive win over Oklahoma Baptist, the Golden Suns needed to charge back in the opening set. After tying things at 1-1, Tech trailed for much of the game. A kill and ace from Hunter Eshnaur started a quick four-point run for the Suns that pulled them back within one at 8-7, but the Storm would go up by four points three more times before Tech finally was able to take control. Kills from Eshnaur and Sarita Stegall, followed by an error made it 17-16 in favor of SNU, and after a quick point from the hosts, Tech pushed into the lead for the first time.

A McCall Wilkins kill, followed by a block from Wilkins and Kaylee Konsella, tied things at 18-all, and a SNU error gave Tech its first lead. Another Eshnaur ace pushed the lead to two, and a few points later, back-to-back kills from Katie Huff made it 24-20 before a SNU error ended the set.

It didn't take as long for the Suns to grab a lead in the second, as two consecutive kills from Eshnaur took the guests from down by one to up one at 3-2. SNU would pull things back to even a few times, but Tech managed to keep the Storm at bay. After falling back into a tie at 10-10, kills from Eshnaur and Wilkins, along with a Stegall ace, made it 15-11 in favor of the Suns. SNU would come back to tie it at 15-15, but Tech again refused to go behind, scoring 10 of the final 15 points.

A Haley Owen kill gave the Suns a 21-19 lead, and three in a row from Eshnaur, Wilkins and Stegall brought an end to the set and handed Tech a 2-0 lead in the match.

Southern Nazarene didn't let the momentum keep them down for long, putting together a solid win in the third set. The hosts ran off the first four points of the set and led wire-to-wire. Huff tallied four kills and a block in the set, while Wilkins, Eshnaur and Konsella each notched two kills.

The fourth set was much more competitive, with six lead changes and 12 ties. An Eshnaur kill and ace helped the Suns to the first of those lead changes, pulling ahead 3-1. It would stay a narrow Tech lead up until SNU tied it at 6-6, but a kill from Kaci Jackson and one by Eshnaur stretched the lead to two once again. A block by Wilkins and Eshnaur gave the guests their biggest lead of the set at 10-7. A five-point run pushed the Storm back into the lead at 13-12. From that point, neither team could pull away. The teams were tied at every point from 14-14 to 22-22, but from there, SNU scored the final three points to force the decisive fifth set.

"We had a great Oklahoma swing, but we need to stay focused through the last round of Arkansas schools," Bayer said. "We have some tough matches ahead of us."

The Golden Suns return home to host Williams Baptist and Bacone in a tri-match Tuesday before welcoming Henderson State into Tucker Coliseum Thursday to start the final third of the GAC season.

                                                                                                             -FIGHTON-