RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. - Following their three match Great American Conference road trip, the Arkansas Tech volleyball team returns home to Tucker Coliseum to take on Ouachita Baptist in a Thursday night showdown.
During the 2021 season, Ouachita went 9-20 overall with a 4-12 record against GAC teams. So far this season, the Tigers look to be fairing better with an 8-7 overall record while holding a 2-2 record against conference teams. In their last match, Ouachita picked up the 3-0 sweep across the street against their bitter rival Henderson State.
Leading the offense for Ouachita is Emily Adams with 166 total kills on the year with a 2.91 kill per set average. Following behind Adams is Kayla Steinmeyer with 160 kills on a 2.81 kill per set average. Riley Braziel has also contributed a fair amount on offense with 133 kills. Pacing the offense for the Tigers is Courtney Hanson with 544 total assists on the season and she is currently averaging 10.07 assists per set. Hanson also leads the team in aces with 21, while Braziel follows with 17.
On defense, the Tigers are led by Lexie Castillow who is averaging 5.59 digs per set on 302 total digs. Behind Castillow with 158 total digs on a 2.93 dig per set average is Braziel. Joni Schneider and Hanson have both added 119 digs on the year to the Ouachita defense. In terms of blocks, Adams leads the Tigers with seven solo and 31 assisted for 38 total blocks on the season. Karli Ferguson has also had an impact at the net with 32 total blocks.
Moving to the Golden Suns,
Maddi Siedenburg leads the offensive attack with 98 total kills, on a 2.72 kills per set average. Following Siedenburg is the pair of
Lydia Hale and
Heather Thomas who have each picked up 85 kills on the season. Hale is currently averaging 1.98 kills per set, while Thomas has a 1.55 average.
Brianna Merkel has also contributed on the attack with 80 total kills on the season thus far. Pacing the offense is Merkel with 240 assists, while averaging 5.33 assists per set.
Gracie Palmer averages 2.67 assists per set and has set set up 144 total assists. In terms of service aces,
Jamie Myrick leads the team with 22, while
Megan Solberg follows with 18.
Anchoring the Golden Suns on defense is Solberg with 235 digs on the year and is averaging 4.27 digs per set. Merkel has also added plenty of help on defense with 129 total digs on a 2.87 dig per set average. Holding down the front of the net for the Golden Suns is Thomas with six solo blocks and 35 assisted blocks, for 41 total on the season and is averaging 0.75 blocks per set. Following behind Thomas at the front of the net is Hale with 24 total blocks, while
Zoe Lott and
Olivia Crowl have each logged 14.
The conference match against Ouachita Baptist is set for a 6 p.m. first serve in Tucker Coliseum tomorrow night. Tomorrow's match will also be faculty/staff appreciation night.
