RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. — Getting ready to jump into its last five matches of the regular season, the Arkansas Tech women's volleyball team will host Henderson State Thursday evening, looking to keep winning streaks going in the Great American Conference matchup.
The Golden Suns (21-5, 11-0 GAC) bumped their winning streak to 15 games overall with a pair of wins in a tri-match Tuesday, and the clean start to the conference season has pushed their league winning streak to 23 consecutive matches, including last season's GAC Tournament.
Tech faces each of the league's Arkansas schools for the second time to end the regular season over the next two weeks. The Suns turned back the Reddies (4-20, 2-9 GAC) with a 25-23, 25-20, 25-10 victory on the road Sept. 29, the 15th straight win over Henderson. The Reddies haven't won in Russellville since the 2004 season.
Freshman Hunter Eshnaur turned in 11 kills, 10 digs and three aces in last month's match, while classmate Sarita Stegall added 34 assists and 10 digs for the Suns, who hit .200 as a team and held Henderson to .080. Senior Katie Huff managed nine kills and three blocks, sophomore McCall Wilkins posted seven kills and a pair of blocks, and junior Kaylee Konsella put up nine kills and two aces on the night. Sophomore Madison Nagel led the defense with 13 digs, adding two aces, and senior Kaci Jackson added 11 digs.
Offensively, the Reddies are led by Jessie Jacoby, who averages 3.30 kills and put up nine in the teams' first meeting. Kaylie Pyles, Gabby Ginapp and Violet Williams all average between 1.50 and 2.00 kills, with each posting at least 100 on the season, while Pyles and Williams have combined for 26 aces. Brea May leads the way with 6.63 assists per set, adding 18 aces. Sydney Skelton puts up 3.51 digs per set, while Jacoby is second on the team at 1.87.
Thursday is also Jersey Night for the Golden Suns, who will hold a silent auction for their jerseys beginning at 5:30 and running to the start of the third set. All proceeds go to River Valley Food 4 Kids.
Live video and statistics from the match will be available at www.arkansastechsports.com.
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