GAC VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP HOME PAGE
HARDING 3, SOUTHERN ARKANSAS 0
25-14, 25-18, 26-24
No. 2 seed Harding advanced into the inaugural GAC volleyball championship match by recording a three-game sweep over Southern Arkansas on Saturday.
Harding’s defense that collected 14 total blocks contributed to the win, but the Lady Bisons (25-7) also took advantage of Southern Arkansas’ 28 attack errors.
HU finished the match with a .223 team hitting percentage after collecting 33 kills on 103 attempts with only 10 errors. Mollie Arnold led the Lady Bisons with 17 kills on 37 attempts with only two errors for a match-high .405 percentage. Arnold also chipped in on defense with five digs and three total blocks.
Amber Parker paced the Harding back row with a match-high 17 digs.
The Lady Muleriders were led by Jordan White’s 11 kills on 26 attempts with only four errors for a final .269 hitting percentage.
Harding moves on to the finals against either No. 1 seed Arkansas Tech or No. 5 seed East Central. The ATU-ECU match begins at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. The championship match is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.
ARKANSAS TECH 3, EAST CENTRAL 1
25-14, 26-24, 21-25, 25-17
The finals of the inaugural GAC volleyball championship tournament have been set. No. 1 seed and host team Arkansas Tech will face No. 2 seed Harding for the tournament title at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Arkansas Tech (34-3) reached the finals by capturing a hard-fought four-set win over East Central (14-18) in the semifinals.
In that win, the Golden Suns turned in their best performance in the first set, tallying 14 kills on 31 attempts and only four errors for a .323 hitting percentage.
The remainder of the match featured a back-and-forth battle, including an extra-point set for ATU in the second game and a four-point set win for the Lady Tigers in the third game.
ATU eventually captured their 24th consecutive victory at home inside Tucker Coliseum by posting 14 kills on 36 attempts in the final set.
The Golden Suns had three players record double-digits in the kills column. Laura Farney recorded a match-high 16 kills, while Brittany Ryan and Sara Motsinger trailed closely behind with 12 and 10 kills, respectively. Ryan and Thabata Galvao both totaled a match-high six blocks.
Brennae Benda paced the ATU back row with a match-high 23 digs.
For ECU, Megan Waiki led the way with 10 kills in 25 attempts with only four errors for a final .240 hitting percentage. Noelle Cope added nine, and Tatiana Booth had eight. Megan Kimak led the ECU back row with 13 digs.