PITTSBURG, Kan. – The Arkansas Tech volleyball team bounced back on Saturday for the second day of their season-opening weekend on the road at the Gorilla Classic. The Golden Suns would split their two matches on the day with a hard-fought 3-1 win over Western Colorado in the morning and a valiant back-and-forth five-set setback against Oklahoma Christian in the afternoon.
WESTERN COLORADO
In the match with Western Colorado, the Golden Suns got out to a slow start in the first set and trailed by as much as six points early. Later in the set, the Golden Suns were able to get within two of the lead, 16-14, but Western Colorado ripped off five-straight points to go up by seven, 21-14.
The response from the Golden Suns after that was nothing short of remarkable as they would score nine of the next 10 points in the set to suddenly lead 23-22. Western Colorado then got to set-point after two-straight points, but the Golden Suns staved that off with two-straight points of their own to give themselves set-point at 25-24. Western Colorado was able to extend the match a bit further with the next point, but a kill from
Henley Hooks and an assisted block by Hooks and
Jordan Clouse emphatically ended the set, in favor of Tech.
The Golden Suns then used that momentum to race out to a quick start in the second set as they opened on an 8-1 run. The lead grew as large as 12 with the Golden Suns leading 21-9. Unfortunately, Western Colorado went on a monumental run and scored 12 of the next 13 points in the set to pull within a point, 22-21. Despite that massive run, the Golden Suns were resilient and closed out the set, winning 25-22.
Set three went in favor of Western Colorado to force a fourth set.
That fourth set ended up being a wild back-and-forth ride. After trailing 13-8, the Golden Suns scored six-straight points to take a 14-13 lead. They later grabbed a 23-19 lead and were looking to close out the match before Western scored five of the next six points to force the set beyond 25 points as they knotted the score at 24-all.
From that point, the two teams traded points over the next 10 scored, pushing the set to an incredible 29-all. The Golden Suns would buck the trend there and got kills from
Kaitlyn Neal and
Savannah Meyer to put the finishing touches on the match, giving Tech their first win of the season.
OKLAHOMA CHRISTIAN
As wild as the match with Western Colorado was, the Golden Suns' match with Oklahoma Christian was just as wild. The two teams would alternate set wins through the first four to force a decisive fifth set.
Oklahoma Christian, who was unbeaten heading into the match, took the first set 25-13. The Golden Suns bounced back in the second set and won 25-21. Set three was tied at 18-all before Oklahoma Christian ripped off a 7-0 run to close out the set and win 25-18.
Needing to win the fourth set to extend the match, the Golden Suns started off hot, 5-0, but the Eagles were able to go on a run of their own and snatched a lead, 9-8. From there, the set was closely played with neither team leading by more than three points the rest of the way out.
With the score tied at 20-all, the Golden Suns and Eagles traded the next eight points of the match increase the stalemate to 24-all. The Golden Suns then got consecutive kills from
Jordan Clouse and
Kaitlyn Neal to end the set and force a fifth.
In set five, the Golden Suns started out quick and raced out to a 5-1 lead, but Oklahoma Christian was able to score five-straight points to take a 6-5 lead. That set would go on to be tied five more times before Oklahoma Christian built a little bit of separation with a quick 3-0 spurt that gave them a two-point lead, 12-10.
Moments later, the Eagles were at match-point, 14-12, but the Golden Suns fought that off with two-straight points to knot the set at 14-all. Alternating the next four points, the set was finally tied at 16-all before Oklahoma Christian was able to get the final two points to escape with the closely-contest victory.
UP NEXT
The Golden Suns will now prepare for another big weekend of action next weekend as they will take part in the Flames Invitational, hosted by Lee University. The Golden Suns will play four matches over two days at the invitational starting on Friday, September 13.
