RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The Golden Suns fall on senior night to the Ouachita Baptist Tigers 3-2. After a long, hard-fought match, the Suns bumped down to fourth place in the conference and tied with Southwestern Oklahoma State with a 10-5 conference record.
The Suns started off strong in set one where they forced the Tigers to earn a 0.0 attack percentage. Though the Tigers gained an early lead, the Suns later caught up at 4-4 after three-straight Tiger errors. Ouachita was able to score two more points before the Suns earned a five-point streak after some kills by Erika Hernandez, BryAnna Young and Karlly Dillard and more Tiger attack errors. Once they hit 10-7, the score tossed to-and-fro before the Suns went on another streak for a seven-point lead. Up 18-11, the Suns hit 20 points first after a kill by Hernandez, and a final kill by Hooks gave the Suns set one 25-15.
The Tigers earned the first point in set two before Savannah Meyer and Dillard blocked an attack from the Tigers. This led to a four-point run and gave the Suns a 4-1 lead. The teams tied 4-4 until two Tiger errors gave the Suns free points. The score remained in a two-point range for the remainder of the set. The teams were toe-to-toe and landed in a tie at 25-25. After a Tiger error and a kill from Dillard, the Suns successfully took set two 27-25.
Set three began with the Suns in a 4-1 lead after some Tiger errors, once more. They later gained a four-point streak and led 9-4. The Tigers answered back with a four-point run as well and later met the Suns at 10-10. Ouachita had another error before going on another three-point run and jumped to 15-12. Once the Tigers led at 20-13, the points tossed back-and-forth before the Suns closed off the score gap at 24-23. After a Tiger kill, they were able to earn set three 25-23.
The beginning of set four stayed close until the Tigers jumped into a 7-3 lead. The Suns later answered back with a four-point streak to close the score difference at 10-9. The Tigers mimicked them and gained a five-point lead at 15-10. The Suns were able to gain a couple more kills by Dillard, Hooks, Crum and Meyer before falling in set four 25-18.
The Tigers kept their momentum for set five and the Suns remained close by mid set. Ouachita hit 7-5 and the Suns were unable to score much more before the Tigers acquired the final set 15-9 to take the match.
Karlly Dillard was able to lead the Suns in kills for the match totaling 15. Shortly after was Henley Hooks at 13 and Madison Crum at 11. Dillard also led in blocks and tied with Erika Hernandez at five, and Savannah Meyer shortly after at three. Kenzie Garrett led in assists at 28 and earned a double-double with 15 digs, as well. Kylie Lambert followed after Garrett in assists totaling 27. Libero Samantha Wojtowicz led in digs with 23.
UP NEXT
The Golden Suns head south to Searcy for their final conference match of the regular season against the Harding Bisons on Thursday, November 5. The outcome against the Bisons will determine the seed for the Suns in the GAC Volleyball Championship that will be on November 11-13. First serve in Searcy is set for 6 p.m.
