RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. - The Arkansas Tech Volleyball team defeats Southern Nazarene 3-1 (27-25, 26-28, 25-20, 25-22) to secure their 10th consecutive victory and move to 13-3 overall with a 7-0 conference record.

Leading the offense was senior right-side hitter Haylee Paladini with 15 kills at a solid .406% clip. Behind Paladini was junior outside hitter Kaitlynn Bradley and senior middle blocker Emily Ragsdale with 11 kills each. Pacing the offense was junior setter Brianna Merkel with 42 assists in the match. Merkel's 42 assists sets a new season-high for the junior setter.

The defensive effort by the Golden Suns was led by senior libero Madison Grantham, junior defensive specialist Megan Solberg and freshman libero Jamie Myrick with 14 digs each. Senior outside hitter Tymber Riley and Merkel also contributed defensively with 12 digs each. Bradley lead Tech in total blocks with five and Paladini followed behind with four.

Tech jumped out to an early 9-2 lead capped off by a kill from Ragsdale. Paladini would put a kill on the board to extend the Tech lead to 13-7. A 5-0 run by the Crimson Storm made it 13-12. Tech tried to take a large lead, but couldn't quite take it. A kill from Ragsdale late in the set would give them a chance to take the set with the score 24-23. Southern Nazarene wouldn't go down as they took a 25-24 lead to extend the set. A kill from Bradley and two errors made by the Crimson Storm would give the Golden Suns a 27-25 first set win.

The second set saw Southern Nazarene take an early 10-9 lead. Tech would win five of the next seven points to lead 14-12 after a kill from Paladini. Another kill by Paladini and one from Ragsdale would push it to a 16-14 Tech lead. The Crimson Storm found a 4-0 run to take back control leading 18-16. The Golden Suns found an 8-0 run to counter the Crimson Storm run to take a controlling 24-18 second set lead. Southern Nazarene put together one last run and would make the comeback to take the second set victory 26-28.

Arkansas Tech opened the third set with a 13-9 lead after a few costly errors from Southern Nazarene. Two kills from Riley and one from Paladini would extend the lead to 19-14. The final six points that gave Tech the third set win were all errors made by the Crimson Storm giving Tech a 25-20 third set win.

In the fourth and final set, Tech took another early lead following a kill from Bradley to make it 9-5. A pair of kills from Merkel and Ragsdale put the Golden Suns up 15-11. The Crimson Storm made another comeback attempt to cut the Golden Sun lead to 17-16. A 5-0 run capped off by a pair of kills from Bradley and Abby Simpson put Tech into a good position to take the match leading 22-16. A kill from Bradley and a pair from Ragsdale would close the match out to give the Golden Suns a 25-22 fourth set and match victory.

The Golden Suns will travel to Alva, Okla. on Friday, October 15 to face Northwestern Oklahoma for their next appearance. The match is set for a 6 p.m. start.