RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – On Tuesday, the Great American Conference released its annual preseason volleyball coaches poll, and in that poll, the Arkansas Tech volleyball team was picked to finish fifth in the league standings.
Last season, the first under head coach
Hannah Wuest, had the Golden Suns predicted to finish ninth, but a resurgent campaign saw Tech finish in a tie for fourth in the conference standings with an 11-5 mark in league play. Overall, the Golden Suns posted a 15-12 record, giving them the most overall wins and most conference wins since 2021.
Ahead of the Golden Suns in the preseason poll are Harding (1
st), Oklahoma Baptist (2
nd), Ouachita Baptist (3
rd) and Southwestern Oklahoma (4
th). The top three of the poll all received at least one first-place vote. Oklahoma Baptist (111 points) garnered the most first-place votes with six, but placed second in the poll as Harding, who had four first-place votes, edged them out in total points with 114.
Ouachita received a pair of first-place votes and totaled 96 points, placing them just ahead of Southwestern Oklahoma, who totaled 94 points.
Henderson State and East Central tied one another with 62 total points to slot just behind Tech in a tie for sixth place in the poll. Southern Nazarene, Southern Arkansas and Southeastern Oklahoma were the next grouping with 46, 43 and 42 points, respectively. Northwestern Oklahoma and Arkansas-Monticello rounded out the poll in 11
th and 12
th place.
This year, the Golden Suns look to build off that resurgent season and will have the be luxury of the return of 13 players from last year. Included in that list are the top-three point scorers for the Golden Suns last season in
Erika Hernandez,
Henley Hooks and
Savannah Meyer. All three garnered all-conference honors last year as they totaled over 250 points and had at least 225 kills.
Hernandez and Meyer were Second Team All-GAC picks last year while Hooks was First Team All-GAC. Hernandez was also named GAC Newcomer of the Year.
Defensively, the Golden Suns return starting libero
Samantha Wojtowicz and their second-leading blocker,
Carson Thiebaud. Wojtowicz averaged 4.85 digs per set and totaled 461. Thiebaud totaled 58.0 blocks.
In addition to the returners, the Golden Suns bolstered their roster with six newcomers.
The 2026 Golden Suns are set to begin their season on the road the weekend of August 28-29 as part of the Washburn Invitational, hosted by Washburn. The Golden Suns are slates to play their annual Green and Gold showcase at home inside Tucker Coliseum on Saturday, August 22 starting at 3 p.m.
For the full 2026 Golden Suns volleyball schedule, click the following link:
https://arkansastechsports.com/sports/womens-volleyball/schedule
