WICHITA FALLS, Texas - The Arkansas Tech Volleyball Team sweeps Eastern New Mexico (27-25, 25-22, 26-24) for the second time this season to open up their weekend at the Midwestern State Invitational in Texas.

Leading the way for the Golden Suns was Tymber Riley who had 11 kills on the day, with Emily Ragsdale following closely behind with 10 kills. Haylee Paladini also had a solid outing with nine kills. Brianna Merkel also contributed on the offensive end with 35 assists. Leading the way for the defense was Madison Grantham and Megan Solberg each contributing eight digs.

The opening set started off a close one with both teams going back and forth before Tech gained a 5-3 lead after an attack error from Eastern New Mexico. From there, the Greyhounds gained the upper hand going on a 6-0 run to put them up 9-5. The Golden Suns then went on a 6-0 run of their own to take an 11-9 lead. Both sides continued to remain close during the first set, a kill by Paladini would give Tech a 24-23 lead with a chance to take the first set. A kill from the Greyhounds would tie it up making it 24-24. An ace from Emily Ragsdale would give the Golden Suns a first set win 27-25.

Two aces from Megan Solberg, two kills from Emily Ragsdale and an attack error would give Tech a strong 5-0 start for the second set. The Greyhounds continued to fight and would pull within one point with the Golden Suns still leading 7-6. Arkansas Tech proceeded to go on a 4-0 run fueled by a trio of kills from Kaitlynn Bradley, Haylee Paladini and Emily Ragsdale to give them an 11-6 lead. Eastern New Mexico made a late 3-0 run down the stretch in the second set that would pull them within one point once again with a 20-19 Tech lead. The Golden Suns pressed on and claimed a 25-22 second set victory.

In the third and final set, both teams would split points until Eastern New Mexico would be the first team in the set to earn two straight points putting them up 10-9. Arkansas Tech would find a 3-0 run capped off by a kill from Ragsdale to take a 13-11 lead. The third set continued to be a close one leading to a 24-24 tie at the end of the set. The Golden Suns would come out on top and close the set off of a kill from Brianna Merkel and an ace from Maggie Schlueter to take the final set 26-24 and pull off their third sweep of the season.

Head Volleyball Coach Kera Dukic likes what her team accomplished today, but knows that they can be even better.

"Always great when you win on the road in 3 sets, especially to a team you just played the weekend prior. Our middles led the way offensively for us for sure, Ragsdale leading in kills and Kaitlynn leading in hitting percentage. We were a little too high error for where we would like to be, but that's something we just have to keep working at and will get better about as the season continues.  We'll have to focus in big time tomorrow, two matches back to back against strong opponents and we cannot afford to make that many unforced errors. Excited to see what we do!".

The Golden Suns will close out their weekend in Texas with two matches tomorrow Saturday, September 11 against #22 Colorado Mesa at 9 a.m. and Midwestern State at 11:30 a.m..