Golden Suns not sharp but weather Storm
Remaining unbeaten in Garland County, top seed Arkansas Tech’s volleyball team overcame feisty eighth seed Southeastern Oklahoma for a 3-1 victory Thursday in the Great American Conference tournament quarterfinals.
The Golden Suns, 7-0 in what is now Bank of the Ozarks Arena since the tournament moved from a neutral site in 2013, won the last two sets of a 26-24, 18-25, 25-14, 25-21 match. Arkansas Tech (266) plays the winner of Thursday’s late quarterinal, Southern Arkansas or Harding, at 6 p.m. in today’s second semifinal.
“It wasn’t the prettiest volleyball match, and it was certainly not how we wanted to come out and make a statement here at the conference tournament,” said 12th-year Arkansas Tech coach Kristy Bayer. “But the bottom line was we wanted to win, and we won. I told the girls let’s just put the last two hours behind us and move on because we’ve got bigger things to worry about right now.”
Southeastern Oklahoma (7-23) showed grit early, tying the first set at 24 before a Savage Storm blocking error and Sarita Stegall’s set kill.
“I’m extremely proud of the way my girls competed today,” said second-year Southeastern Oklahoma coach Brianna Barry. “We knew this would be a tough match with Arkansas Tech being the leader in the conference right now, but our girls put everything on the court that they possibly had, and we as coaches couldn’t be any prouder of the way they played today.”
Southeastern raged in the second set, winning 11 of 15 points for a 21-15 advantage and taking the final two points on Kristi Carter’s serve with kills by Julia Benford and Abby Jameson. Jameson totaled 21 kills and 12 digs.
“She’s one of my freshman studs for sure,” Barry said. “She had a little injury in the middle of the season that kind of threw off her game a little bit, but tonight she came out swinging as best as she possibly could and playing defense and picking up her teammates. We’re very excited to have her in our program the next three years.”
After what Bayer called an animated locker-room address between the second and third sets, Ouachita hit .250 in the third set and benefited from Southeastern’s 10 errors against nine kills.
“In the third, we lost some of our energy when we decided to do some things that aren’t really in our wheelhouse,” Barry said. “It wasn’t Southeastern volleyball. We were playing like a different team, and that’s not how we win. We tried to get back into it in the fourth set, but by then it was too late.”
GAC freshman of the year Hunter Eshnaur wrapped her seven-ace outing with a pair in Tech’s four-point run in the fourth set. Arkansas Class 6A most valuable player for Russellville High in 2014, Eshnaur compensated for a .200 hitting percentage with 13 kills and error-free serving.
“The good thing is that she has so many different tools that if she’s not doing well in one,” Bayer said. “Her attacking may not have been there at the beginning of the match, but she was completely focused on her serving and that’s definitely the sign of a good volleyball player.”
Tech senior middle Katie Huff led with 14 kills and hit .414.
“She was ready to play,” Bayer said. “I was extremely proud of the way Katie came out. She was focused. She knows what’s on the line. She’s a senior and been doing this now for four years. She really led our team today.”
Kaylee Konsella added 11 kills for the Golden Suns. She and Huff combined on a block for match point.
Arianna Baker finished with 13 kills for the Savage Storm, who frustrated the Golden Suns with 73 digs.
Third-seeded Southwestern Oklahoma dropped the first set but downed rival Northwestern Oklahoma 22-25, 25-21, 25-18, 25-21 in the opening match of the Great American Conference tournament Thursday at Bank of the Ozarks Arena.
Northwestern Oklahoma (11-18) hit .415 in the first set, recording 21 kills against 4 errors. Southwestern went up 2-1 hitting .324 in the third set and had only four errors in the fourth set.
Southwestern Oklahoma junior Carly Zak recorded a match-high 24 kills. Classmate Paige Holt added 10 kills, helping the Bulldogs reach the GSC semifinals since 2012.
Junior Natalie Fahey led Northwestern Oklahoma with 15 kills, 12 over the first two sets. Junior Nora To’omalatai added 11 kills, and junior Asia Pipkin and senior Ashanti Banks chipped in with 10.