No. 24 ATU defeats Harding for 15th consecutive win

ATU Sports
Paul Smith, Director of Athletics Communications

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – No. 24 Arkansas Tech extended its win streak to 15 matches and moved to 2-0 in the Great American Conference on Tuesday, defeating Harding in straight sets (25-22, 25-14, 25-16).

UP NEXT

• Arkansas Tech (15-0, 2-0 GAC) travels to Arkadelphia on Thursday for a 6 p.m. match against Ouachita.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Tech’s most productive set offensively came in the first game, as the Golden Suns recorded 19 kills and hit .326. Allie Anderson and Hunter Eshnaur led all players with five kills each in the set, and Greer Rogers had her hands on three blocks.
• Harding (12-2, 1-1 GAC) held a 9-8 lead early in the match, until a quick 4-0 run gave Arkansas Tech a three-point lead. The Suns would hold the lead for the rest of the set, winning, 25-22, on a kill by Tabitha Spray.
• Arkansas Tech’s defense controlled the second set, holding Harding to a .000 attack percentage. The Lady Bisons recorded seven kills but also committed seven attack errors, as the Golden Suns posted 11 kills and six errors.
• A 7-1 run in the second game that featured two kills and one ace by Spray put the Suns ahead, 11-7. Arkansas Tech then scored 14 of the set’s final 21 points to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
• In the final set, the Golden Suns posted a match-high .368 attack percentage. Spray led all players with six kills in the game, while Amanda Milnick added four kills and eight digs.
• Tech used a 9-1 run in the third game to take a 16-8 lead, before Spray eventually delivered the final two points of the match with a kill and a service ace to give Arkansas Tech the 3-0 victory.

NOTABLES

• With the victory, Arkansas Tech is just one win away from its best start to a season in program history.
• With eight digs, Madison Nagel becomes the first player in Arkansas Tech volleyball history to record over 2,000 digs. Nagel became Tech’s all-time leader in digs last weekend.
• For the match, the Golden Suns hit .287 and held the Lady Bisons to hit just .104. Anderson and Spray each finished with 11 kills, followed by Lexie Johnston with nine and Eshnaur with eight. Johnston and Anderson combined for 20 kills and just two attack errors.
• Milnick recorded 36 assists, 16 digs and seven kills, picking up her 14th career double-double. Eshnaur and Milnick tied for a match-high 16 digs.
• Johnston tallied six total blocks, as Arkansas Tech’s 11 blocks are the most in a three-set match this season.

COACH KRISTY BAYER SAYS

• “I am extremely proud of our team for being 15-0, but the way I approach it, and the way I want the team to approach it, is we always look to the next match. It was a great win tonight, but what I told the girls in the locker room is that our focus is on OBU on Thursday.”
• “One thing I love about our offense is that we can use a lot of different hitters on any given night. Tonight, it happened to be Allie [Anderson]. Allie has such a high reach, she can hit over a block. And Tabitha [Spray], over the past five matches, has taken a larger part of our offense. She’s extremely strong, she very dynamic and she has a lot of power to her attack.”
• “Defensively, and in serve-receive, Hunter [Eshnaur] was money for us, and Amanda [Milnick] is so athletic, she can get to so many balls, defensively.”
• “We had a really good crowd here, tonight. I saw a lot of student-athletes, and it’s always great when you look out and see your fellow student-athletes supporting you, so I definitely want to say thanks to all the student-athletes, students, faculty and staff, and everyone from the community that came out.”