ARKADELPHIA, Ark. - Unbeaten Arkansas Tech looked every bit like the No. 19 team in the country on Tuesday night, defeating Henderson State 3-0 (25-14, 25-15, 25-18) in the Duke Wells Center.
SET ONE: Henderson kept things close to start the match, trailing just 10-7 in the early-going of the first set. From there, though, the Golden Suns took control with a 10-4 run, stretching their advantage out to 20-11 before closing it out 25-14 to take a 1-0 match lead. Tech had a .519 hitting percentage in the set, with 16 kills on 27 attacks.
Karlie Greene had three kills in the period for Henderson.
SET TWO: The two teams traded the first eight points of the second set to knot the score at 4-4, but Tech again had a big run in them, running off a 16-5 stretch to gap the Reddies, 20-9. Henderson came clawing back, using kills from five different players to win six of the next seven and cut the lead to 21-15, but the Golden Suns won the final four points to close it out 25-15. Greene and
Courtney Bolf each had three kills in the set for the Reddies.
SET THREE: Henderson battled in the third set, and despite falling behind 12-8, fought back to cut the deficit to just 17-16 in the waning moments of the set on a kill from
Maddy Wisniewski and a block from
Adrianna Hartmann. It was not to be, though, as Tech took the next seven points in route to a 25-18 set win and a 3-0 match victory.
Kamra Jackson had a big final set for the Reddies, racking up four kills on a .600 hitting percentage for the period.
GAME NOTES: Jackson and Greene each had six kills to lead HSU offensively, while setter
Sariah Boney added 19 assists. Bolf and libero
Sydney Skelton each had six digs. As a team, Henderson had a hitting percentage of just .082, while the Golden Suns hit .451 for the match with 46 kills to the Reddies' 31. The loss drops Henderson to 9-8 on the season and 2-2 in the Great American Conference.
UP NEXT: The Reddies will make the shortest road trip in college sports on Thursday night when they face rival Ouachita Baptist at 6:30 p.m. in the Sturgis Physical Education Center here in Arkadelphia, Arkansas.
