RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – After the completion of preseason practice and the Green and Gold scrimmage last Sunday, Arkansas Tech volleyball will open its season this Friday in Memphis, Tenn., as the Golden Suns compete in the Christian Brothers Invitational.
 
Tech will take on Saint Joseph's College, a Division II member of the Great Lakes Valley Conference, on Friday, Sept. 2, at 10:15 a.m. The Golden Suns will follow with another contest on Friday at 2:45 p.m. against Barton College out of Wilson N.C.
 
On Saturday, Arkansas Tech continues its opening weekend with a match against Texas A&M–Kingsville at 2:45 p.m., and the final match of the tournament against Christian Brothers at 7:15 p.m. All four matches will be in Canale Arena at Christian Brothers University.
 
The Golden Suns are coming off a 2015 season that featured 26 wins, their sixth consecutive season with at least 25 wins. Arkansas Tech also claimed its third Great American Conference regular season title with a 15-1 record.
 
Returners for the Golden Suns include 2015 GAC Freshman of the Year Hunter Eshnaur and All-GAC Second Team selection Madison Nagel. Tech will be led by three seniors, McCall Wilkins, Kaylee Konsella and Haley Owen. Wilkins led the Golden Suns with 32 starts last season and finished second with 71 blocks.
 
Arkansas Tech's first two matches against Saint Joseph's and Barton College will be the first competition in program history against either opponent. Saint Joseph's finished the 2015 season with a record of 8-21, and Barton College finished at 15-13.
 
Tech is 1-1 all-time against Texas A&M–Kingsville and 27-9 against Christian Brothers. Kingsville is coming off a 19-15 season, while Christian Brothers went 9-21 in 2015.
 
The weekend kicks off a 32-game regular season, featuring 16 GAC contests and 14 home matches.
 
Live stats for this weekend's matches are available at www.arkansastechsports.com. Tech's contest against Christian Brothers will have live video.