RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. - Following their upset over Oklahoma Baptist in one of the best matches in GAC history in the final round of the conference tournament, the Arkansas Tech Volleyball team will open the NCAA Division II Central Region Championships in Warrensburg, Mo. as the No. 8 seed in the NCAA Central Region and will face the No. 1 overall team in the country: Central Missouri. The Golden Suns are the only team in the GAC playing in the tournament. Arkansas Tech enters the match 22-7 overall.

The Golden Suns headed into the GAC Tournament following the regular season as the No. 3 seed with a 19-7 overall record and a 13-3 conference record. In their opening match of the tournament against Henderson State in the quarter-finals, the Golden Suns easily took care of business moving on to the semi-finals after a 3-0 sweep over the Reddies. In the semi-finals, Arkansas Tech faced Southwestern Oklahoma State, the only conference opponent they had yet to beat this season after getting swept on the road by the Bulldogs during the regular season. This time it would be the Golden Suns who would emerge victorious with a 3-1 victory over the Bulldogs, advancing them to the GAC Tournament Finals. 

Once again Arkansas Tech would have to prove themselves in their toughest match all season against Oklahoma Baptist who were the reigning two-time defending GAC champs and had knocked out Tech the last two years in the semi-finals. The Golden Suns had swept the Bison in Tucker earlier this season and knew they could hang tough with them. The Golden Suns had forced a fifth set and were down 7-1 to start the final set as the Bison looked like they were headed for their third straight conference championship. Arkansas Tech spoiled the Bison plans of a three-peat however ending the game on an incredible 14-3 run to win the fifth set 15-10 and stun the Bison in an upset. Since the Golden Suns won the conference tournament, they received an automatic bid to play in the NCAA DII Central Region Tournament.

Central Missouri has been one of the countries most dominant teams all season long and head into the match against Arkansas Tech as the best team in the nation. During the regular season, the Jennies went 28-3 overall and finished with an 18-2 record in the MAIAA. Like Arkansas Tech, Central Missouri won their conference tournament which gave them an automatic bid to the NCAA DII Central Region Tournament. The Jennies are also the host of the tournament, which they qualified for by finishing as the top seed in the region.

Following the regular season, Arkansas Tech finished fifth in the GAC in hitting percentage and opponent hitting percentage. The Golden Suns also finished third in the GAC in blocks and were first in service aces. 

Leading the offensive attack for Tech will be senior outside hitter Tymber Riley who leads the team in total kills with 337 on the season. Riley finished fourth in the GAC in kills and fifth in points. Senior right-side hitter and GAC Tournament MVP Haylee Paladini follows Riley with 245 kills on the season. Emily Ragsdale and Kaitlynn Bradley should also prove to be strong contributors to the offense with 195 and 182 kills respectively. Bradley finished third in the GAC in hitting percentage. After a strong tournament run for freshman Abby Simpson, you can expect the outside hitter to play meaningful minutes for the offense. Pacing the offense will be junior setter and All-GAC Tournament member Brianna Merkel who has 789 assists on the season. Merkel finished the regular season seventh in assists and ninth in aces in the GAC. 

Holding down the anchor on the defensive end of the floor will be senior libero and All-GAC Tournament member Madison Grantham who leads the Golden Suns in digs with 457 on the season while averaging 4.31 digs per set. Grantham is currently third on the all-time dig list for Arkansas Tech with 1,421 total career digs. The senior libero finished ninth in the GAC in digs and third in aces. Holding down the front line for Tech will be Ragsdale who leads the team in blocks with 82. Bradley and Paladini will also be a strong force down front with 76 and 68 blocks respectively. 

The Golden Suns will play the Jennies in the opening match of the NCAA DII Central Region Tournament tomorrow, Thursday, December 2. The match is set for a 5 p.m. first serve in Warrensburg.