RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – Rilie Vote came out ready to play today, putting down 15 kills, while posting a .306 hitting percentage for the match. Vote led the Golden Suns to a four-set victory over the Ouachita Tigers (25-19, 25-21, 26-24, 25-16). Arkansas Tech also put tough pressure on Ouachita from the service line, serving 10 aces in the win.
 
"Always good to come out of a tough match with a win," said head coach Kera Dukic. "The Ouachita defense is just nonstop, they never give up and I think we saw firsthand tonight how tiring that can be to play against. We had to move around some people in our lineup and honestly I'm just so proud of the team's response to that. Emily Acker was phenomenal tonight, we really needed her to come in and spice things up and she did just that. Time to rest up and reset!"
  
The Golden Suns opened the first with a 5-2 run behind kills from Addison Masters and Mackenzie Eford and an ace from Megan Solberg. Ouachita came back to take a 10-9 lead before a block from Eford and Brianna Merkel stopped the run, tying things 10-10. The Tigers pushed a 14-11 lead before the Golden Suns put together a 5-0 run after kills from Eford, Haylee Paladini and a block from Eford and Paladini put Arkansas Tech up 20-17. The Golden Suns won the last five points to take the first set, 25-19.
 
Ouachita started the second set with its own 5-2 run before Arkansas Tech answered with a 4-1 run to take a 9-8 lead after three kills from Vote. The Tigers used a 5-1 run to take a 17-14 lead after errors from the Golden Suns. The teams traded points at the end of the set before the Tigers finished the set, 25-21.
 
The Tigers grabbed a quick 6-3 lead to open the third set before a 3-0 run from the Golden Suns tied things at 6-6- after a kill from Masters and an ace from Madison Grantham. Arkansas Tech put together a 9-2 run to take a 15-10 lead after kills from Emily Acker, Eford and Vote. Ouachita did not go away quietly, managing to get set point, 24-23 before Arkansas Tech grabbed the last three points off kills from Vote and Eford and another block from Eford and Merkle gave them the set, 26-24.
 
The Golden Suns controlled the fourth set, scoring six points in a row off errors from the Tigers and a kill from Eford. Arkansas Tech extended its lead to nine, 18-9 with three more kills from Vote and another from Paladini. Again, the Golden Suns scored the final three points in row after a kill from Grantham and Tymber Riley.
 
Eford followed Vote with nine kills, Masters put down eight and Paladini and Ragsdale added four each. Acker dished out a team-high 21 assists followed by Merkel with 20 assists. Madison Grantham led the Golden Suns yet again, with 21 digs. Arkansas Tech's blocked showed up, posting 11 blocks to Ouachita's five.