TECH VOLLEYBALL CLOSES OUT REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE
WITH THREE GAME LOSS AT HENDERSON STATE

        ARKADELPHIA, Arkansas – The Arkansas Tech Golden Suns Volleyball team finished the regular season portion of their schedule here Thursday with a 3-0 (30-21, 30-27, 35-33) loss to Henderson State at the Duke Wells Center in Arkadelphia.

Henderson State used a 9-2 run in the opening game to push ahead 19-13. Tech only managed to strike for a .083 hitting percentage in the game while HSU rolled up a strong .333 mark. HSU’s Edith Musebe recorded 10 kills and five solo blocks in the game and led the Lady Reddies to a 30-21 win.

The second game saw both teams go neck-and-neck all the way to a 24-24 tie. Then a Tech service error and two Lady Reddie kills put HSU on top 27-24. Tech would get back within one at 27-26 but HSU went on to win the game, 30-27.

The Lady Reddies jumped to a 16-10 in the match’s final game before Tech head coach Kristy Bayer called a timeout. The Golden Suns came out of the timeout and used a 12-5 run to take a 22-21 lead after a kill by freshman right side hitter Ashlynn Hamrick (Jackson, Mich.).  From that point, the two teams went back and forth until the game was finally pushed into overtime when HSU came out on top 35-33 to win the match 3-0.

          With the loss, Tech fell to 22-12 and 8-4 in GSC play which is good enough for third place in the Gulf South Conference West Division, while HSU improved their record to 21-9 overall and 10-2 in league play to finish second in the GSC West Division.

Tech was led in the match by freshman middle blocker Sarah Von Lienen (Lakeland, Tenn.), who hit .476 and had 11 kills and three block assists, while junior outside hitter Racheal Urquhart (Chatham, Ont.) had a team-high 14 kills to go along with nine digs. Junior setter Kayla Allison (Tulsa, Okla.) had 42 assists and nine digs and freshman outside hitter Kelly O’Malley (Laurel, Mont.) added seven kills and four total blocks in the match.

Defensively, freshman setter/defensive specialist Kera Dukic (White Lake Mich.) led Tech with 13 digs, while freshman libero Ashley Camp (Conway, Ark.) added 10 digs of her own in the loss.

The Lady Reddies were led by a fantastic performance from Musebe, who hit .404 for the match while posting 29 kills and seven total blocks. Rachel Norton had a match-high 46 assists which accompanied nine digs while Rose Euppah added 12 kills and 9 digs in the contest. Emily Trudgeon added seven kills and seven digs and Bethany Wright got into the action with a match-high 16 digs in the win.  

In a match that saw 27 ties and 13 lead changes, HSU out-hit the Golden Suns .252 to .200 while tallying eight more kills and one more block on the afternoon. Each team had 52 digs apiece, but the Lady Reddies were able to gain three more services aces in the match than the Golden Suns.

The Golden Suns will be back in action next Friday when they will participate in the Gulf South Conference Tournament, which will be hosted by Harding University in Searcy, Ark. Tech will face the No. 2 seed, either North Alabama or West Alabama, from the GSC’s East Division.

         Henderson State Box Score

-- Tech Athletics --