RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – After a sweep of Henderson State, the Arkansas Tech Golden Suns are headed to the Great American Conference championship tournament semifinals. The Golden Suns took down the Reddies in straight sets in Tucker Coliseum (25-20, 25-22, 25-19).
Tymber Riley posted a season-high 11 kills, while hitting .320 for the match. She also posted a season-high three blocks in the win.
Mackenzie Eford put down 11 of her own kills, hitting .304 for the match.
Haylee Paladini added double-digit kills with 10.
Kaitlynn Bradley came up big for the Golden Suns, putting up seven blocks and grabbing four kills without an error.
Brianna Merkel dished out 22 assists and
Emily Acker dished out 14.
Madison Grantham anchored the defense, like she has all season, with 16 digs while
Maggie Schlueter picked up double-digit digs with 11.
The Golden Suns wasted no time, taking a 7-3 lead after two kills from
Haylee Paladini and errors from the Reddies. Arkansas Tech extended their lead to 17-10 after kills from Riley, Eford and Paladini all across the net. The Golden Suns took a 23-16 lead off a kill from Riley before the Reddies scored four in a row to pull within three, 23-20. Back-to-back kills from
Rilie Vote sealed the first set victory, 25-20.
Pressure from the Golden Suns serving and defense put them up 9-5 in the second set along with kills from Merkel, Paladini and Eford. Arkansas Tech used a 4-0 run to take a 21-16 after a kill from Bradley and three consecutive errors from the Reddies. Henderson State used a late run to pull within one, 23-22 before a kill from Paladini and another error from the Reddies gave the Golden Suns a victory in set two, 25-22.
Henderson State jumped to an early 4-1 lead before Arkansas Tech tied things 8-8 after an ace from Riley and two kills from Eford. The Golden Suns used a 9-2 run to take an 18-14 lead after kills form Bradley, Vote, Paladini and Riley. Arkansas Tech won four of the final five points of the match after a kill from Riley and two from Eford as the Golden Suns took set three, 25-19 and the match 3-0.
