TECH VOLLEYBALL COLLECTS THREE-SET GSC ROAD WIN
AT SOUTHERN ARKANSAS

        MAGNOLIA, Arkansas – Arkansas Tech Golden Sun Volleyball put an end to its road woes here Thursday night as they snapped a two-match losing streak at the W.T. Watson Athletics Center with its three-set victory over Southern Arkansas (25-22, 25-14, 25-16) in Gulf South Conference action.

Tech, who improved to 14-1 overall on the season and 2-0 in the GSC, hadn’t won a volleyball match in Magnolia since picking up a victory over the Lady Muleriders on Oct. 25, 2005.

With the win, Tech has now won 18 consecutive sets since dropping the first set in its four-set win over East Central on Sept. 9.

In Thursday’s match, Tech used solid hitting (.316 hitting percentage) and a defense that collected 54 digs and six total blocks in posting the win in the 67-minute match.

Senior outside hitter Racheal Urquhart (Chatham, Ont.) led Tech with a match-high 11 kills and added 13 digs for her fourth double-double of the season. Urquhart finished the night with a .429 hitting percentage. Sophomore middle blocker Sarah Von Lienen (Lakeland, Tenn.) had nine kills and hit .600 in the win, while freshman outside hitter Marcela Mascarenhas (Sao Paulo, Brazil) added seven kills, 12 digs and a .467 hitting percentage.

SAU, who fell to 6-8 on the season and 0-2 in the league, was paced by Maggie Ross’ 10 kills, four blocks and a .429 hitting percentage, along with Mallory McKee’s match-high 15 digs. For the game, SAU hit .125 and had 41 digs in the loss.

After hitting .195 in its 25-22 win in the first set, the Golden Suns hit .433 and had 15 kills and two attack errors in posting a 25-14 win in the second set and then closed the match by hitting .375 with 10 kills in the third set.

Sophomore right side hitter Ashlynn Hamrick (Jackson, Mich.) led Tech’s blocking unit on Thursday as she had five blocks, including three solo blocks. Von Lienen added two block assists in the win.  

 For the match, Tech recorded 39 kills and had only nine attack errors in 95 attack attempts, while SAU had just 30 kills and committed 16 attack errors in 112 attack attempts.

The Golden Suns return to action on Friday, Sept. 26, when they travel to Searcy, Ark., to face North Alabama in a non-conference match at Rhodes Fieldhouse on the Harding University campus. The match is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.

         Southern Arkansas Box Score  

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