RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. - Following their home stand against a trio of opponents, the Arkansas Tech volleyball team returns to action as they travel across the state line to Oklahoma to take on Southern Nazarene and Oklahoma Baptist in a pair of back-to-back Great American Conference road matches on Thursday and Friday.
Up first on the back-to-back slate is Southern Nazarene. Last season, Southern Nazarene went 11-16 overall and held a 5-12 record against conference opponents. This season, they are currently 12-9 overall and have a 4-1 record against GAC teams.
Leading the offense for the Crimson Storm is Sunny Batschelett with 238 kills on the year with a 3.09 kill per set average. Whitney Bowie has also been a helpful factor on the attack with a 2.73 kill per set average on 210 kills total for the season. Pacing the offense for Southern Nazarene is Kaley Brubaker with 777 total assists on a 10.50 assist per set average. Madeline Lynch leads the team in aces with 22, while Tatum Smith has 21.
On defense, Lynch leads with 308 total digs on a 4.00 dig per set average. Behind Lynch is Brubaker with 202 digs, while Smith has 197. In terms of blocks, the pair of Bowie and Bailey Grimes lead the team with 68 total blocks and Batschelett follows with 62 blocks on the year.
On the other side of the back-to-back, Arkansas Tech will take on Oklahoma Baptist. Last year, Oklahoma Baptist went 23-4 overall with an 14-2 record in conference play. The Bison won the Great American Conference regular season title and finished runner-up in the GAC Tournament after being taken down by Tech in the finals in a thrilling five set match. This year, they are 14-8 overall and have an 8-1 record against conference opponents.
Leading the attack on offense for the Bison is D'Erricka Frierson with 213 kills on the season on a 2.88 kill per set average. Following behind Frierson is Avery Hellmuth with a 2.36 kill per set average putting down 182 total kills, while Jill Leslie has 181 total kills on a 2.51 kill per set average. Pacing the offense for Oklahoma Baptist is Rylee Martin with 434 total assists on the year with a 5.79 assist per set average. Lisa Gonzalez has also contributed with 431 total assists for the Tigers. In terms of service aces, Martin leads Oklahoma Baptist with 24 on the year so far, while Hellmuth has 23.
Defensively, Maci Langford leads the Bison with 414 total digs on a 5.38 dig per set average. Behind Langford is Frierson with 215 digs and Martin with 157. In front of the net, Hellmuth leads Oklahoma Baptist with 73 total blocks for the year on a 0.95 block per set average. Leslie follows with 55 total blocks, while Audrey Poupard has blocked 46.
Moving to the Golden Suns,
Heather Thomas leads the offensive attack with 138 total kills, on a 1.84 kills per set average. Following Thomas is
Maddi Siedenburg with 129 kills on the year while averaging 2.69 kills per set.
Brianna Merkel slots in right behind Siedenburg with 104 kills on the season and
Lydia Hale has also contributed on the attack with 100 total kills on the season thus far. Pacing the offense is Merkel with 365 assists, while averaging 5.79 assists per set.
Gracie Palmer averages 2.43 assists per set and has set set up 180 total assists. In terms of service aces,
Jamie Myrick leads the team with 28, while
Megan Solberg follows with 24.
Anchoring the Golden Suns on defense is Solberg with 307 digs on the year and is averaging 4.09 digs per set. Myrick has also added plenty of help on defense with 183 total digs on a 2.47 dig per set average. Holding down the front of the net for the Golden Suns is Thomas with nine solo blocks and 45 assisted blocks, for 54 total on the season and is averaging 0.72 blocks per set. Following behind Thomas at the front of the net is Hale with 32 total blocks, while
Olivia Crowl and
Sierra Orton have logged 17 each.
The first match of the road trip will be on Thursday in Bethany, Okla. against Southern Nazarene. That match is set for a 6 p.m. first serve on Thursday evening. Then on Friday, the Golden Suns will travel to Shawnee, Okla. to take on Oklahoma Baptist. The match against the Bison is set for a 4 p.m. first serve on Friday afternoon.
