MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Arkansas Tech volleyball team concluded their weekend at the Warhawk Invitational on Saturday morning with a match against Palm Beach Atlantic. Both Tech and PBA swept their two matches played on Friday setting up a showdown of weekend unbeatens.
Unfortunately, after winning the first set, 25-18, the Golden Suns dropped the next three sets as PBA came away with the four-set win.
That first set was mostly controlled by the Golden Suns after they found their footing following an early 5-1 deficit. At one point, the Golden Suns had built up an eight-point lead, 17-9 and then matched that lead at 20-12 before winning the set, 25-18.
Set two saw the Golden Suns jump out to the early lead before PBA fought their way back to tie the set at five-all. From there, the set remained pretty close until the Golden Suns broke a 12-all tie and scored seven of the next nine points to a five-point lead, 19-14.
Not long after that, the Golden Suns were the first to 20 points while also holding a five-point lead, but the Sailfish pushed hard and scored eight of the next 10 points to grab a one-point lead, 23-22. After alternating points, PBA had set point, 24-23. The Golden Suns were able to fight off that set-point and did so against at 25-24, but the Sailfish were ultimately able to win the set, 27-25.
The Golden Suns did not let the second set result linger and established control early in the third set, leading by as much as four points, 10-6. PBA once more was able to eventually settle in and tied the set at 12-all.
At that point, the score would be tied six more times before the Golden Suns broke a 20-all tie on a kill from
Savannah Meyer. Unfortunately, the Sailfish rattled off five-straight points to pull away with the set win and a 2-1 advantage in the match.
This time, the momentum from the end of the third set did carry over as PBA raced out to a 7-0 lead in the fourth set. Later, the Sailfish lead grew as large as 11 points, giving PBA more than enough cushion to cruise to a 25-14 win in the set, giving them the match, 3-1.
Statistically, the Golden Suns had two players reach double figures in kills and were led by
Kaitlyn Neal with 12 kills.
Henley Hooks was next with 11. Defensively, the Golden Suns had three players register double-digit digs with
Jamie Myrick leading the way with 19.
Kariela Torres and
Emma Kiser both had 10 digs. The double-digit dig total for Kiser gave her a double-double as she also had 34 assists.
The Golden Suns will now prepare to jump back into conference play this coming week and will first be on the road at Arkansas-Monticello on Tuesday, September 24. First-serve is scheduled for 6 p.m. from the Steelman Fieldhouse in Monticello.
