RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – In the first top-25 showdown in Great American Conference history, the No. 15 Arkansas Tech Golden Suns volleyball team was unable to fend off the No. 12 Lady Bisons of Harding, falling in four sets (25-21, 15-25, 28-30, 23-25).
 
"Tough loss tonight to a very good Harding team," said head coach Kera Dukic. "If you were in the stands tonight, that's some pretty good volleyball you got to see. It's always a great match between the two teams honestly. Tonight's match is one of those you'll never forget as a player. Although it didn't go the way we would've liked, it was gritty and really high-level volleyball. Ready to get back to work!"
 
The Golden Suns opened the first set with a 6-1 run fueled by kills from Rilie Vote and Haylee Paladini with aggressive serving from Mackenzie Eford. Arkansas Tech pushed their lead to seven, 14-7 after an ace from Paladini. Harding pulled within one, 20-19 before the Golden Suns finished the first set on a 4-1 run to take the set, 25-21.
 
Harding put pressure on the to start the second set, grabbing a 7-0, serving three aces in the first seven points. A kill from Vote put the Golden Suns on the board. Arkansas Tech used a 4-1 run to pull within four, 15-11 after an Eford kill. The Lady Bisons scored the final four points to take the second set, 25-15.
 
Arkansas Tech came out in the third set, taking an 8-4 lead after another kill from Vote. Harding used their own run to tie things up at 15-15. The teams traded points before Harding took a 22-20 lead. The Golden Suns answered with a 5-2 run, to take a 25-24 lead. The Lady Bisons finished the last three points to win the set in extra points, 30-28.
 
Early on in the fourth set, the teams traded points tying each other every other point until Harding took a two-point lead, 14-12. A kill from Addison Masters tied things at 15-15. The teams tied again at 22-22 and the Golden Suns grabbed their last lead, 23-22 before the Lady Bisons took the last three points and the set 25-23 and the match 3-1.
 
Vote led the Golden Suns with 13 kills followed by Eford with 10 kills. Eford hit .214 for the match. Emily Ragsdale led the team with six blocks and Vote and Eford added four blocks. Brianna Merkel picked up her fourth consecutive double-double with 38 assists and 17 digs. Madison Grantham picked up a career-high 33 digs, two shy of the GAC record for a four-set match. Megan Solberg posted 10 digs in the match.