RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. — Hitting .419 as a team while holding its opponent to just .075, the Arkansas Tech women's volleyball team earned a road sweep of Arkansas-Monticello Tuesday evening in Great American Conference action.

The Golden Suns (23-5, 13-0 GAC) hit better than .450 in two of the three sets in the 25-14, 25-22, 25-12 victory over the Cotton Blossoms (9-16, 1-12 GAC) to pick up their 17th consecutive victory of the season and 25th straight win in GAC play dating back to last season.

Freshman Hunter Eshnaur led the attack with 13 kills on .440 hitting, while senior Katie Huff also reached double figures with 11 kills on .529 hitting. Sophomore McCall Wilkins turned in seven kills while hitting .500, and senior Kaci Jackson reached the .500 mark as well with six kills to go along with six digs. Freshman Sarita Stegall dished out 35 assists, while sophomore Madison Nagel boosted the defense with 15 digs.

"We played really well on both sides of the ball today," coach Kristy Bayer said. "I loved our focus heading into the match, and we didn't let up.

"Sarita did a phenomenal job running our offense. She made really good decisions, and it showed as we're really clicking offensively. Kaci and Madi got some good touches defensively. They read and moved well."

An ace and two kills from Huff helped bump the Suns out to a 5-1 lead early in the first set. UAM was able to cut that lead back to one at 6-5, but an 8-1 run bolstered by two kills from Jackson gave Tech a comfortable nine-point margin that they would hold on to. An Eshnaur kill put the guests up 20-10, and kills by Wilkins, Kaylee Konsella and Huff ended the set, which saw the Suns pick up 15 kills to just one error to hit .452.

Tech faced its first multi-point deficit of the night early in the second set, going down as far as 5-2 early, but a Konsella kill around three Monticello errors quickly handed the Suns the lead once again. The hosts would keep it tight, tying things up at 6-, 8- and 10-all, and manage to take the lead back with a four-point run to go up 14-11. A Tech timeout was enough to halt the momentum in time for a quick 4-1 spurt behind kills from Huff and Stegall to tie things at 15-15, and back-to-back kills from Eshnaur handed the Suns the lead back a few points later. Two UAM errors and a Jackson kill gave Tech the lead for good at 21-18, and the Suns netted four of the final six points to wrap up the tight victory in the set.

Another quick start by the Blossoms in the third set would be much shorter-lived, as after a 5-4 start for the hosts, Tech would score 21 of the final 28 points to complete the sweep. Kills from Eshnaur and Wilkins first tied gave the Suns their final lead of the night as part of a four-point run that made it 8-5, and after UAM pulled to within two at 10-8, Tech rattled off eight straight points — including three kills from Huff — to put the game well out of reach. Two kills late from Wilkins pushed it to 24-11, and a block from Wilkins and Konsella capped off the night.

"In a gym where we have previously struggled to perform well in, we were able to execute and take care of business," Bayer said. "I'm proud of our effort."

The Golden Suns are back at home inside Tucker Coliseum Thursday evening for a 6 p.m. meeting with Southern Arkansas.

                                                                                                             -FIGHTON-