SHAWNEE, Okla. - The Arkansas Tech volleyball team falls in two competitive matches on the opening day of the Oklahoma Baptist Tournament. The Golden Suns are steadily making progress as they go and look to grab a win or two tomorrow with their next set of two matches. In the second match against Texas A&M-Kingsville, senior setter
Brianna Merkel notched her 2000th career assist as a Golden Sun.
In the first match of the day, the Golden Suns took on UT-Tyler. The first set opened with a 2-2 score early as
Lydia Hale and
Olivia Crowl put down two early kills. A quick 8-3 run by the Patriots had them on top 10-5. UT-Tyler would continue their offense and eventually put up a 19-12 lead. The Golden Suns would not back down however as they took six of the next nine points highlighted by a kill from
Heather Thomas and Merkel as well as a pair of kills for
Emma Crenshaw to cut the lead to 22-18 for UT-Tyler. The Patriots would close out the set and avoid the Tech comeback.
In the second set, UT-Tyler quickly started with a 4-0 run to put pressure on Tech early. Merkel and Thomas would knock down a pair of kills to get them back within striking distance as the Patriots lead shrank to 8-6. From here both sides went back and forth with the Patriots trying desperately to find a way to stop the Golden Suns from clawing back. Down the stretch of the second set, a kill from
Maddi Siedenburg and one from Hale still kept the UT-Tyler lead to just two at 19-17. The Patriots found the advantage they needed however closing out the set on a 6-1 run to take a 2-0 set lead.
In the third and final set, Merkel would open with three kills to give the Golden Suns a 3-1 lead early on. A kill by Crowl and a few errors by the Patriots pushed the Tech lead up to 9-8. Following UT-Tyler grabbing a 12-11 lead, the Golden Suns proceeded to go on a nice 3-0 run to take back their lead at 14-12. However, UT-Tyler would close out the set on a 13-4 run to take the third and final set and the match.
Merkel put up a double-double in the outing with 10 kills and 13 assists for the strong performance. Hale followed Merkel with nine kills while Crowl and Crenshaw each put down seven. Following Merkel in assists was
Gracie Palmer with 10.
Megan Solberg lead the defense with 15 digs, while Palmer had 10 digs to put up a double-double in digs and assists. At the front of the net, Crowl led the blocking effort picking up both a solo and assisted block.
In game two, the Golden Suns found themselves up against Texas A&M-Kingsville. The Javelinas opened the first set with an early 9-3 lead. They eventually pushed that lead up to 20-12 looking to be in total control of the opening set. Thanks to some errors by the Javelinas and their own offensive prowess the Golden Suns fought back and went on an 11-4 run to force a down to the wire set as Texas A&M-Kingsville held on for dear life clinging to a 24-23 lead. The Javelinas would catch a break and escape the Tech comeback to take the first set 25-23.
Texas A&M-Kingsville opened the second set with another lead at 7-3. A service error by the Javelinas and a quick pair of kills from Siedenburg and Palmer brought it back to within two as the Golden Suns still trailed 6-8. A 7-2 run by Texas A&M-Kingsville got them back in control of the contest with a 17-9 lead. The Golden Suns would once again fight back however going on a 5-1 run closing the gap down 14-18. Two costly errors by the Javelinas gave Tech a pair of free points that made the lead just 22-19. A 3-0 run would close the set and give Texas A&M-Kingsville the second set win.
In the final set of the afternoon, the Javelinas once again opened with a lead at 5-3. However, a kill from Merkal and
Zoe Lott gave the Golden Suns a 6-5 lead. Texas A&M-Kingsville would not let the Golden Suns try and make a comeback in the final set closing out the match on a 17-6 run to take the match 25-14.
Siedenburg led the offensive attack in the match against Texas A&M-Kingsville with seven kills. Following Siedenburg was the pair of Crenshaw and Merkel each with five registered kills. Pacing the offense was Palmer with 11 assists and Merkel with eight. In terms of aces, Siedenburg,
Jamie Myrick and
Mikaela Esparza each collected one. Anchoring the defense for the Golden Suns was Solberg with 13 digs followed by Merkel with 12. The pair of Crowl and Crenshaw led the effort at the front of the net each picking up and putting down two assisted blocks.
Head coach
Kera Coleman was proud of her team for playing with lots of energy and continuing to improve out on the floor.
"We started the day really well. The sets don't reflect it but we played with a ton of energy and came out as a much improved team from last weekend which is what we wanted to see. We definitely still expect to see improvement but we have trust in the process and know it's coming. Fight on!".
The Golden Suns will close out the Oklahoma Baptist Tournament tomorrow with another pair of matches due up. Arkansas Tech will take on St. Edwards for their first match of the day at 8:30 a.m. tomorrow morning. They will close out the day with a match against Newman with first serve set for 12:30 p.m. tomorrow afternoon.
