RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. — In its final preparations before the Great American Conference season gets underway in earnest, the Arkansas Tech women's volleyball team will host a GAC/MIAA Crossover tournament Friday and Saturday at Tucker Coliseum.

The Golden Suns (6-3) welcome regional foes Washburn, Central Missouri and Pittsburg State to Russellville for the event, which features five matches Friday beginning at 11 a.m. and four more Saturday starting at 9 a.m. The two-day event will be some of the toughest competition Tech faces all season, with two opponents entering with high national rankings.

"We're looking forward to having some of the top teams in the country here at Tucker Coliseum," coach Kristy Bayer said. "It will give us a good evaluation of where our team stands and where we need to be. In order for us to keep improving, we need to play the best teams."

Tech, which has won five of its past six matches overall after a five-set victory over Southern Arkansas Tuesday evening, is leading the GAC in both assists and kills, and is second in blocks and hitting percentage early in the season.

Senior Katie Huff and junior Kaylee Konsella give the Suns two of the conference's most efficient hitters, as Huff stands sixth in the league with a .301 hitting percentage and Konsella eighth, hitting .282. The pair are second and third on the team with 2.63 and 2.50 kills per set, respectively, behind freshman Hunter Eshnaur, whose 3.72 mark is fifth in the GAC.

Huff is also leading the team's improved blocking, averaging 0.97 per set herself, which is second in the conference. Konsella and sophomore McCall Wilkins each add 0.69 to help the team to a 1.86 average per set. Eshnaur has chipped in with 0.41 blocks per set and is third on the team averaging 2.22 digs.

Sophomore Madison Nagel leads the team in that category, as her 5.16 digs per set puts her at fifth in the GAC, and she is tops on the squad with 10 aces. Freshman Sarita Stegall, fresh off a 57-assist performance Tuesday against SAU, leads the Suns and is eighth in the league averaging 7.97 per set.

Tech will go up against No. 7 Washburn (8-0) to kick off the tournament at 11 Friday morning. The Ichabods, who have reached the NCAA tournament in each of the past 11 years, swept both their own invitational and the Silver & Steel Classic over the past two weekends. They're hitting at a .200 clip and allowing opponents just a .140 percentage, while also averaging 2.2 blocks per set.

Washburn is led up front by Sarah Vicory, who puts up 2.69 kills per set, hits at a .322 clip and averages a team-high 1.34 blocks per set, and Leanna Willer, whose 3.87 kills and 4.47 points per set and six aces lead the way. Liz Powell adds 9.16 assists and 3.13 digs per set and has chipped in 21 kills and five aces. Willer's 3.23 digs per set is second on the team behind Alyssa Carney's 4.84.

Tech's opponent doesn't get much easier with a 5 p.m. matchup against No. 6 Central Missouri (9-1), which has only dropped three sets in its nine victories, and fell only in a five-set match to No. 5 Tampa. The Jennies are hitting .283 as a team with 14.6 kills per set, and are looking to reach a 33rd consecutive NCAA regional.

Setter Kourtney Thompson leads the charge for UCM, averaging 10.17 assists, 1.14 kills on a .347 hitting percentage, 1.94 digs and 0.26 blocks per set. She is one of four Jennies that are hitting at least .300 on the season, and that doesn't include Carly Sojka, who is hitting .299 but leads the team with 4.26 kills per set. Her 17 aces are second on the team behind the 18 of Annie Reilly, who is tallying 4.83 digs per set.

The Golden Suns' final opponent of the weekend, Pittsburg State (0-8), will close out the tournament with a 3 p.m. start Saturday. The Golden Suns and Gorillas have split four matches over the past decade, with Pitt State taking the last one with a 3-1 victory in 2013. Five of the Gorillas' eight opponents so far have been ranked or receiving votes in the national poll.

Pitt State features a balanced attack, with seven players averaging between one and two kills per set, led by Lexi Fulghum, who puts up 2.00 per set and is hitting .239. Maggie Highberger and Lana DaSilva each average 1.89, while DaSilva and Taylor Unke each average 0.70 blocks. Hayley Hansford and Taylyn Schwartz split the setting duties, averaging 5.11 and 4.22 assists per set, respectively.

Completing the lineup at the event will be GAC squads Southern Nazarene (4-5) and Harding (3-6), last year's second- and third-place teams in the league. Both are coming off of three-game sweeps Tuesday, as the Crimson Storm topped Southeastern Oklahoma and the Bisons bested Henderson State.

This weekend is also the second chance for fans to help with the team's Fight On Against Childhood Hunger initiative. Fans are asked to bring a jar of peanut butter with them to this weekend's matches, with the food collected going to River Valley Food for Kids.

All nine matches during the two-day event will feature live video and statistics, available at www.arkansastechsports.com.

Friday, Sept. 18
Arkansas Tech vs. Washburn, 11 a.m.
Harding vs. Central Missouri, 1 p.m.
Southern Nazarene vs. Pittsburg State, 3 p.m.
Arkansas Tech vs. Central Missouri, 5 p.m.
Harding vs. Washburn, 7 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 19
Southern Nazarene vs. Central Missouri, 9 a.m.
Harding vs. Pittsburg State, 11 a.m.
Southern Nazarene vs. Washburn, 1 p.m.
Arkansas Tech vs. Pittsburg State, 3 p.m.