Box Score (HTML)
MONTICELLO – The University of Arkansas at Monticello volleyball team and the Great American Conference's first place team Arkansas Tech traded blows, but it was the Golden Suns that came away with the five-set victory over the Blossoms on Tuesday night inside Steelman Field House.
Tech (15-5, 7-1 GAC) took the first set (25-19), third set (25-18) and fifth set (15-9). In between, UAM (8-9, 3-5 GAC) posted dominant 25-17 and 25-15 set victories. The Blossoms ended up with the better team hitting percentage in the match with 52 kills and 28 errors on 174 swings for a .138 mark. The Golden Suns posted 55 kills, 33 errors on 186 for a .118 percentage.
In the first set, the Suns began building their lead at the 7-6 mark, scoring five straight points to take a 12-6 lead. UAM rallied back to a three-point deficit at 16-13 with five straight points of its own, highlighted by two kills by sophomore Kedra Johnson and a block assist from Johnson and senior Jessica Cuba. However, that was the closest point difference UAM could muster, as the Suns came away with the six point win to take the early set lead.
UAM hit .250 as a team in the second set to even the match at one set each. Both teams swapped points to keep the set close until UAM rattled off five straight to take a 19-14 lead on a kill by Cuba. To close out the set, UAM scored four straight points, ended by a pair of Tech attack errors.
The Suns answered in the third set, outhitting UAM .206 to .075. Tech trailed early, but took an eight-point lead at 22-14 following back-to-back errors from UAM's Johnson. The Blossoms rallied at set point with four straight points, but the Suns eventually took a 2-1 set lead on a kill from Emily Todd to close out the scoring.
The Blossoms posted their best numbers of the match in the fourth set with 13 kills and only four errors for a .265 percentage. UAM took the lead early and never looked back, leading by as much as 10 points on seven occasions in the frame, including the set winner, a kill from Johnson.
In the fifth and deciding set, the Suns pulled away late, outscoring UAM 6-2 in the final eight rallies.
Junior Sydni Schulz tied Tech's Emily Todd for the match high in kills with 14 each. For Schulz, it was her second straight double-digit kills performance and fifth overall this season. She also added 17 digs in the loss, marking her fifth double-double of the year.
Junior Kyra Austin followed with 10 kills, while adding four blocks. Johnson finished the match with nine kills and six total blocks. Senior Tasha Evans also had six blocks, while adding five kills to her totals. Junior Lani Kaiwi posted her fourth-straight double-digit digs performance with 17. It is her 12th double-digit digs match of the season.
In addition to Todd's 14 kills, Tech also had 12 kills from Katie Huff and 10 from Kaylee Konsella.
The Blossoms are back in action on Thursday at home against Ouachita Baptist. First serve is set for 6 p.m. inside Steelman Field House. Admission is free.
