MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Arkansas Tech volleyball team continued to roll on Friday as they won both of their matches on the day, sweeping Shorter in the morning and then coming back and beating host Auburn-Montgomery, 3-1 in the evening.
The two wins push the Golden Suns' winning streak to five as they are now 6-5 overall on the year.
SHORTER
It did not take the Golden Suns long to get rolling in their match with Shorter as they broke an early 2-all tie and scored four-straight to take a 6-2 lead. They would not relinquish that lead the rest of the set and essentially put it to bed with a 9-2 run that pushed their lead to 10 points, 21-11. Shorter would score three more points in the set before the Golden Suns closed it out.
Set two was more back-and-forth early until the Golden Suns turned a one-point deficit into a four-point lead thanks to 5-0 spurt. Shorter would get within two points of the Suns on a couple of occasions during the next stretch, but a quick 4-0 run put Tech firmly in control of the set. Eventually, the Golden Suns would win 25-17.
It was looking like the match might be forced to at least a fourth set as Shorter gained a sizable 12-5 lead over the Golden Suns, but a valiant 5-0 run by Tech had them right back in the set, 12-10. Shorter would remain in the lead until the Golden Suns had another run in them.
This time, they turned a three-point deficit, 17-14, into a three-point lead as they scored seven of the next eight points. The momentum of that the Golden Suns got from that push continued on as they were able to close the set 25-20, to complete the sweep.
Statistically, the Golden Suns were led in kills by
Kaitlyn Neal and
Savannah Meyer as each had 10. The two were also both highly-efficient in their attacking as they combined for just three errors on 38 total attacks.
AUBURN-MONTGOMERY
After a handful of hours since their sweep of Shorter, the Golden Suns were back in the gym to take on host Auburn-Montgomery, who had lost their first match of the day earlier to Palm Beach Atlantic, 3-1.
The opening set between Tech and AUM was closely-contested throughout, but the big break came late. With Tech leading by a point, 19-18, the Golden Suns put the set in a stranglehold with a 5-0 run to suddenly have set-point and a six-point lead. AUM fended off the first set-point, but a service error put the finishing touches on it for the Golden Suns.
In the second set, the Golden Suns trailed 9-8 and then proceeded to turn that one-point deficit into a four-point lead as they scored six of the next seven points. After consecutive points from AUM, the Golden Suns scored four-straight again to push their lead out to six points, 18-12.
That lead grew as large as eight points, 21-13, for the Golden Suns before they won the set 25-17.
Set three saw the Warhawks fend off the sweep as they flipped a three-point deficit into a one-point lead about midway through the set and later pushed that lead out as high as three points before the Golden Suns knotted things up at 19-all. AUM would break that tie with consecutive points and went on to win the set, 25-23.
Tied five times by the 20
th point of set four, the Golden Suns took control by out-scoring the Warhawks 7-1 to take a 17-11 lead. With Tech leading 19-14, the Golden Suns then all but put the set and match away with a 5-0 run that gave them match-point with a 10-point lead, 24-14. AUM was able to stave off three match points from the Golden Suns to get to 17 points but a service error ended everything.
Offensively, the Golden Suns were led by
Savannah Meyer and
Henley Hooks. Meyer has 14 kills while Hooks had 12.
Emma Kiser paced the offense well with 38 assists.
Jamie Myrick and
Maddi Siedenburg each had double-digit digs with Myrick totaling 17 and Siedenburg 10.
UP NEXT
The Golden Suns will now prepare for their final match of the weekend on Saturday morning as they are set to play Palm Beach Atlantic. First-serve for that match is scheduled for 9 a.m.
