RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. - The Arkansas Tech volleyball team returns to the court this weekend as they open up their season in Oklahoma City, Okla. for the Oklahoma Christian Tournament. The defending Great American Conference Tournament champions will play a pair of matches on Friday and a pair on Saturday for a four-game opening weekend.

To begin their season, Tech will face Southwest Baptist at 9 a.m. Friday morning. Last season, the Bearcats went 11-18 overall with a 6-12 record in conference play. The Golden Suns are 6-2 all-time against the Bearcats and swept them 3-0 in their last matchup on September 7, 2018. 

Arkansas Tech will take on Fort Hays State in their second matchup on Friday. The Tigers went 13-17 overall last season and posted a 7-13 record in conference play. All-time, the Golden Suns are 0-2 against Fort Hays State and look to pickup their first win against the program this weekend. The match against the Tigers is set for a 3:30 p.m. first serve on Friday afternoon.

Opening their second day of the tournament, the Golden Suns take on Illinois-Springfield at 11 a.m. Saturday morning. Last season the Prairie Stars went 14-16 during the season and boasted a 10-8 record against conference opponents. This will be the first time in program history Arkansas Tech and Illinois-Springfield face-off.

The Golden Suns will close out the weekend against their hosts Oklahoma Christian. Last season, the Eagles went 12-18 across their matches and 7-10 against conference opponents. Arkansas Tech will take on Oklahoma Christian at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday evening. The Golden Suns and Eagles face each other for the first time ever in Saturday's match. 

Last season, the Golden Suns put together an incredible season with a stellar 22-8 overall record and a 13-3 record against GAC opponents. Arkansas Tech also boasted a perfect 9-0 home record in Tucker Coliseum. The team entered the Great American Conference Tournament as the No. 3 seed and dispatched Henderson State and Southwestern Oklahoma State in the opening rounds of the tournament. In the finals, the Golden Suns faced the two-time defending GAC Tournament champions in Oklahoma Baptist and ended their dream of a three-peat with the greatest comeback in GAC Tournament history. Down 7-1 in the fifth set, Arkansas Tech stormed back to dethrone the Bison and claim the GAC Tournament crown for their own.

Winning the Great American Conference Tournament earned the Golden Suns a spot in the NCAA Central Region Championship, where they were the only team from the conference to make it that far. They would lose to the No. 1 team in the country Central Missouri in the opening matchup.

Head Coach Kera Coleman returns for her fifth season at the helm of the Golden Suns. This year, the Golden Suns return nine letterwinners and welcome in 11 newcomers. Highlighted among the returners is senior setter Brianna Merkel and redshirt senior defensive specialist Megan Solberg. Both Merkel and Solberg are three-year letterwinners and are the most experienced on the court for the Golden Suns.
 
As Tech's primary setter over the last three seasons, Merkel is closing in on 2,000 career assists and stands at 1,935. She is also closing in on 200 career kills and 100 career blocks. She is currently at 193 kills and 93.0 total blocks. In each of her two full seasons (2020 was condensed due to COVID), Merkel has also eclipsed the 200 dig mark and almost has 600 career digs.
 
Solberg has played in 67 matches and is closing in on 600 career digs herself. Her 2.27 digs per set average over 233 sets played have her with 529 career digs.

Making up the list of 11 newcomers is Abigail Weaver (Port Byron, Ill.), Jenna Keller (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), Mikaela Esparza (Chandler, Ariz.), Jordyn English (College Station, Texas), Presley Hamric (Hot Springs, Ark.), Kaitlyn Neal (Peoria, Ariz.), Aspen Jankowski (Cedarburg, Wis.), Anna Strother (Bridgeport, Texas), Maddi Siedenburg (Wales, Wis.), Zoe Lott (Victory, BC, Canada) and Lydia Hale (Russellville, Ark.).