RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – Amanda Milnick turned in her first career triple-double, posting 13 kills, 24 assists, and 13 digs, while Hunter Eshnaur hit .350 with 17 kills as the Arkansas Tech Golden Suns volleyball team (8-6, 3-0 Great American Conference) rolled to a 3-1 win over Ouachita Baptist (10-3, 2-1) on Thursday night at Tucker Coliseum.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• In an offensively-oriented opening set, Arkansas Tech outhit Ouachita .333 to .231 en route to a 25-18 win.
• Milnick turned in a solid opening set, notching four kills and hitting .800 while dishing out seven assists.
• The Tech tandem of Milnick and Sarah Rosinke combined to pace an outstanding setting effort for the Golden Suns in the opening set. Arkansas Tech notched 16 assists on 38 set attempts (.421 percentage) while OBU was successful on 12 of 41 attempts (.293).
• Ouachita turned the tide in the second set, outhitting the Golden Suns .375 to .167 in a 25-22 victory to even the match at one set apiece.
• The Golden Suns had one more kill (15-14) in the set than the Tigers, but the Golden Suns had eight attack errors to swing the momentum to Ouachita.
• Arkansas Tech ratcheted up the defensive pressure in the third set, holding OBU to an .047 percentage (while hitting .289) in a 25-19 win.
• Eshnaur notched six kills and hit .556 in the set, while Milnick added another four kills. Kaylee Konsella had four kills and hit .500 in the set.
• Tech turned in three blocks in the match – all coming in the third set. McCall Wilkins assisted on a pair, while four other players also combined on successful blocks.
• The final set saw the Golden Suns clinch the victory with another 25-19 set win. Arkansas Tech outhit OBU .250 to .182 in the set.
• Eshnaur had five kills in the set, while Konsella had three kills on three swings. 

NOTABLES

• Madison Nagel led all players with 21 digs, while Matti Dix (13), Milnick (13), Rosinke (13), and Eshnaur (12) all reached double figures.
• The Golden Suns successfully returned all 77 of Ouachita's serves.
• Rosinke (36) and Milnick (24) combined for 60 assists in the match.
• Eshnaur (17), Milnick (13), and Wilkins (11) hit double figures in kills. Wilkins hit .267, while Konsella was solid with nine kills and hit .438.

COACH BAYER SAYS

• On the victory – "I thought our defense clinched the victory for us. We knew coming into the match that Ouachita was going to be one of those teams that had incredibly long rallies, and we'd have to stick with them and play lights-out defense, and I thought tonight our defensive effort was one of the best I've seen since we started. It does help for us that we have so many offensive weapons and we can go to so many people for termination, and that's what we were looking for tonight."
• On the adjustments – "In the second set what we failed to is we failed to play well together as a team. Our communication had ceased and we lost our intensity. I kind of referenced Muhammad Ali and how he took care of his opponents. That was the theme of our halftime was when you have an opponent down, you push them down and they stay down, and so our focus coming out of the locker room was taking an early lead, taking care of business, and defending our home court."
• On the play of Amanda Milnick – "She has been very close to a triple double several times, and I know being an offensive threat as well as a setter, we knew that could statistically happen. She is so aggressive and so athletic, that when she gets on a roll and stays consistent she's unstoppable. She's an incredible athlete."

NEXT UP

• Counting tonight's game, the Golden Suns will play seven of eight matches at home. Tech returns to action on Tuesday, Sept. 27, hosting Henderson State in a 6 p.m. matchup at Tucker Coliseum.