RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. - Following their weekend road trip in Oklahoma, the Arkansas Tech volleyball team hosts a nonconference matchup against Drury tomorrow night in Tucker Coliseum to start their week of matches.
The match against Drury will mark the 20th time the programs have faced one another with the last result being a 3-1 win for Drury on October 26, 2021. The Golden Suns are 8-11 all-time against the Panthers.
Last season, Drury went 20-11 overall with a 10-8 record against opponents in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. This season, the Panthers are currently 10-14 overall with a 2-5 record against conference opponents.
On offense, Salma Lewis leads the attack for the Panthers with 239 kills on the year while averaging 2.85 kills per set. Following behind Lewis is Stormi Tadlock with 228 kills on a 2.48 kills per set average. Pacing Drury on offense is Chloe Rear who has collected 703 total assists on the season and averages 7.81 assists per set. Leading the team in aces is Rear with 32, while Juliana Squire has picked up 29 aces so far this season for the Panthers.
Defensively, Squire leads Drury in digs with an even 400 on the year with a 4.35 dig per set average. Rear has also added a solid amount on defense with a 2.50 dig per set average on 225 total digs. In terms of blocks, Tadlock leads with 75 total blocks on the year with an average of 0.82 blocks per set. Behind Tadlock, Rear and Kayli Duncan follow with 69 and 65 total blocks on the year, respectively.
Moving to the Golden Suns,
Heather Thomas leads the offensive attack with 159 total kills, on a 1.92 kills per set average. Following Thomas is
Maddi Siedenburg with 149 kills on the year while averaging 2.66 kills per set.
Brianna Merkel slots in right behind Siedenburg with 117 kills on the season and
Kaitlyn Neal has also contributed on the attack with 110 total kills on the season thus far. Pacing the offense is Merkel with 371 assists, while averaging 5.23 assists per set.
Gracie Palmer averages 2.76 assists per set and has set set up 226 total assists. In terms of service aces,
Megan Solberg leads the team with 31, while
Jamie Myrick follows with 30.
Anchoring the Golden Suns on defense is Solberg with 342 digs on the year and is averaging 4.12 digs per set. Myrick has also added plenty of help on defense with 198 total digs on a 2.41 dig per set average. Holding down the front of the net for the Golden Suns is Thomas with 13 solo blocks and 51 assisted blocks, for 64 total on the season and is averaging 0.77 blocks per set. Following behind Thomas at the front of the net is Hale with 32 total blocks, while
Sierra Orton has 19.
The nonconference match against the Panthers will be tomorrow night, with first serve set to go for 6 p.m. in Tucker Coliseum.
