RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. - The Arkansas Tech volleyball team took a tough 0-3 loss at home against Northwestern Oklahoma State on Friday afternoon. Following the match, the Golden Suns move to 5-15 overall with a 3-6 record against Great American Conference opponents.
In the opening set of action, the Golden Suns got to work quickly with a 3-0 run led by a pair of kills from
Kaitlyn Neal and
Brianna Merkel, while
Megan Solberg picked up an ace. Two kills from
Heather Thomas and an ace from
Jenna Keller extended Arkansas Tech's lead to 6-2. The Rangers fought their way back into the set with a 6-2 run tying the set at 8-8. From there, NWOSU picked up the pace and went on a 12-1 run to put them up 20-10 down the stretch. Ultimately, the Rangers would close out the first set on a 5-1 run to take it 25-12.
NWOSU would open the second set with a quick 4-2 lead. The Golden Suns quickly found their way back with a 4-0 run fueled by a pair of kills from Thomas and
Maddi Siedenburg to take a 6-4 lead. Arkansas Tech continued to stay the course and hold their own as kills from
Abigail Weaver, Merkel and Thomas kept them in front up 12-10. Two pairs of kills from Thomas and Siedenburg, one from
Olivia Crowl and one from Weaver had the Golden Suns in front 19-16. The Rangers would find a quick 2-0 run to get back within one point, but Thomas would collect another kill to maintain Tech's lead at 20-18 down the stretch. A kill from Merkel and one from
Emma Crenshaw would make it a 22-21 Golden Sun lead, but the Rangers would pick up a 3-0 run to make it set point for them. Despite one final kill from Siedenburg, the Rangers would take the second set escaping with a narrow 25-23 set two win.
Both sides started the third set close with a 3-3 tie. A 12-2 run by NWOSU would give them the 15-5 advantage. The Golden Suns wouldn't go down without a fight however as they put together a 6-3 run thanks to a trio of kills from
Ava Johnson, Crowl and Thomas as well as an ace from
Gracie Palmer and two errors by the Rangers to make it an 11-18 deficit for Tech. From here, NWOSU would go up 23-14, but the Golden Suns would show their fight once again with a 5-1 run led by a kill from Johnson and one from Weaver to make it a 24-19 NWOSU lead. The Rangers would collect the next point however and take the third set 25-19 and get the 3-0 match win over the Golden Suns.
Leading the offense for the Golden Suns was Thomas with 11 kills on an impressive .474 hitting percentage against the Rangers. Following Thomas was Merkel with six kills in the match, while Weaver logged five. Pacing the Golden Sun offense was Merkel with a team-high 24 assists on the afternoon. In terms of aces, Merkel, Solberg, Palmer and
Jenna Keller all collected one each.
On defense, Solberg was the anchor for Arkansas Tech with 16 digs in the match. Following her was
Jamie Myrick with 14 and Palmer with 12. Holding down the front of the net was the duo of Neal and Crowl each collecting one solo and one assisted block against NWOSU.
The Golden Suns next match will be on Monday against Arkansas-Fort Smith. The match is set for a 6 p.m. first serve on Monday night in Tucker Coliseum.
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