SHAWNEE, Okla. - The Arkansas Tech volleyball team battles to the end in their pair of matches against St. Edward's and Newman in two close fights. Following the matches, the Golden Suns move to 1-7 overall on the season and set their focus forward to conference play.
Starting bright and early Arkansas Tech opened their final day at the Oklahoma Baptist Tournament facing off against St. Edward's. Getting off to an early start in the opening set was St. Edward's with an early 11-7 lead. A quick 4-0 run fueled by an ace from
Jamie Myrick and a kill from
Lydia Hale got the Golden Suns back in the set tying it up at 11 all. The Hilltoppers continued to stay ahead though and a 5-1 run would put them up 20-15 over Tech. A late 6-2 run by Tech got them back within one with the set at a 23-22 lead for St. Edward's. The Hilltoppers would grab the next pair of points to win the opening set.
In the second set, both teams battled close early. A pair of kills from Hale and
Emma Crenshaw as well as an ace from
Gracie Palmer provided a nice 3-0 run for the Golden Suns to take a 6-3 lead. Then, five kills from Crenshaw,
Brianna Merkel,
Maddi Siedenburg and
Heather Thomas provided another boost pushing the Tech lead to 12-8 in the second set. With the Golden Suns still in the lead, the Hilltoppers decided to show some fight and proceeded to go on a 9-1 run to take a 17-13 lead. The Golden Suns would take the lead right back though on a 7-2 run to make it 20-19 down the stretch. Two costly errors by St. Edward's set up for Tech to be in the drivers seat leading 23-22. Siedenburg would close out the second set with a kill to give the Golden Suns the set 2 win tying the match up at one set win a piece.
Over the next two sets, the Hilltoppers would take control taking a 25-17 third set win. St. Edward's would open the fourth and final set on a 14-4 run that gave them the room to take the final set 25-13 as well as the match.
Sidenburg lead the offense for the Golden Suns with 11 kills, followed Crenshaw with nine.
Gracie Palmer paced the offense with 16 assists, followed by Merkel with 8. In terms of aces, Myrick lead the team with four while
Mikaela Esparza had two. On the defensive end,
Megan Solberg led with 17 digs, followed by Merkel with 15. Holding down the front of the net was
Olivia Crowl with two assisted block and a solo for three total, while Myrick picked up one of each.
In the second match against Newman, the Golden Suns came ready to play. Despite Newman's early attempts to pull away in the opening set, Tech fought their way back eventually cutting the lead down to two at 12-14. The Golden Suns continued to stay in range of the Jets, but a late 4-1 run gave them the breathing room to take the first set 25-18.
In the second set, both teams battled back and forth early but a kill from
Zoe Lott and an ace from Merkel would put Tech on top 8-6 early. The Golden Suns continued to hold a steady lead as a 6-2 run that saw a trio of kills from Hale, Merkel and
Kaitlyn Neal pushed the lead to 14-9. The next eight-straight points went back and forth, until a 3-0 run by the Jets got them back in the set as Tech still led 18-16. Following the run by Newman, Arkansas Tech came up with their own 3-0 run capped off by a kill from Lot to take a 21-16 lead down the stretch. That would be the room they needed to finish off Newman in the second set as kills from Hale, Thomas and Neal closed out the set with a 25-19 win for Tech.
The third set proved to be another close one as both teams fought close early, but a 6-1 run by the Golden Suns capped off by three straight kills from Merkel saw them gain 12-7 lead. The Jets would try and pull back within two, but not before a quick 6-2 run by the Golden Suns fueled by two kills from Hale, one from Neal, one from Merkel and one from Thomas would put them back up 20-14 down the stretch. The Jets still never wavered, however, and pulled out a late 7-1 run to tie the third set at 22 all. The Golden Suns would pull it out though taking a 2-1 set lead heading into the fourth set.
Early runs on both sides had the Jets and Tech going back and forth. Eventually, the Golden Suns found a 6-1 run in them capped off by an ace from Palmer to take an 18-13 lead in the set. Siedenburg would find a pair of kills to push the lead to 22-16 down the stretch for Arkansas Tech. The Jets proved their fighting prowess though ending the set on a 12-4 run to take it 28-26 forcing a fifth and final set.
Newman started the fifth set with a 6-2 lead but a 5-0 run by Tech saw that lead vanish with the Golden Suns taking it 7-6. A kill from Siedenburg made it a 9-8 lead, but two back-to-back kills by the Jets got them the lead back. Newman would close the fifth and final set on a 5-1 run to take the set 15-12 and the match 3-2.
Siedenburg led the offensive attack for the Golden Suns with 20 kills. Merkel followed with 14, but also came away with 43 assists and 15 digs to earn herself a triple-double. Hale also had a solid outing on the attack with 13 kills in the match against Newman. In terms of aces, Merkel led the team three, while Palmer had two. Anchoring the defense in the match was
Megan Solberg with 25 digs, followed by Palmer with 18 and Myrick with 15. Holding down the front of the net was Thomas with a stellar six assisted blocks and three solo for an impressive total of nine. Hale was also strong at the front of the net with three blocks assisted and one solo as well as Lott and Neal each with three block assists on the afternoon.
Head coach
Kera Coleman is focused on the growth and comradery of the team as they get ready to begin conference play
"Preseason is all about learning. Learning new players, learning new systems, and figuring out your team's identity. We believe everything happens for a reason and refuse to give up on each other. Our story has only just begun - the first chapter was a tough one but we're going to use it for growth. We got better this weekend and that's all we as a coaching staff can ask for. I know we will get through this together and come out stronger because of it. Conference opener and student-athlete night on Tuesday at 6PM in Tucker coliseum. We can't wait to play in our home gym and show you how far we've come!".
The Golden Suns will host their first conference game of the season on Tuesday night as Southern Arkansas comes to town. Tuesday nights game against Southern Arkansas will be the homer opener for the Golden Suns inside Tucker Coliseum. The match is set for a 6 p.m. first serve.
