SEARCY, Ark. - The Arkansas Tech volleyball team drops a tough 0-3 match to conference rival Harding on the road. The Golden Suns move to 3-11 on the year and are 1-2 against Great American Conference opponents.
Leading the offensive attack for the Golden Suns was
Kaitlyn Neal with a team-high eight kills. Following Neal was
Lydia Hale with four total kills, while the trio of
Brianna Merkel,
Olivia Crowl and
Emma Crenshaw each picked up three kills. Pacing the Golden Suns offense was Merkel with 14 total assists on the night. On defense,
Megan Solberg was the anchor with 12 digs, while
Heather Thomas provided strong help in front of the night picking up five total assisted blocks. Neal also had a solid game at the net collecting three assisted blocks against Harding.
Harding got off to a fast start in set one jumping out to an early 5-1 lead. After the Bisons gained a 14-8 advantage, the Golden Suns struck back with a pair of kills from Thomas and Crenshaw to try and close the gap. A 10-4 closing run by Harding in the first set would give them the 25-18 set one win over the Golden Suns.
To begin the second set, both sides traded early blows as a kill from Hale and one from Crowl would keep Arkansas Tech in the match down by one at 4-5. The Bisons quickly found separation with an 8-2 run to make it 13-6. The Golden Suns would respond to a run with their own run lead by Neal, who picked up two kills, as well as Merkel, who collected one. Another run by Harding, this time 6-1 would give them the advantage they needed to pick up the second set win 25-16.
In the third set, Harding would once again open up strong taking a 14-8 lead. A quick 3-0 run response by the Golden Sun fueled by a pair of kills from Merkel cut it to an 11-14 deficit. An 11-2 run by the Bisons would close out the set taking it 25-13 to give Harding the win.
The Golden Suns will stay on the road for their next matchup against Arkansas-Monticello on Tuesday evening. The match is set for a 6 p.m. first serve on Tuesday night.
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