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ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – On April 8, 2021, Arkansas Tech knocked the Reddies out of the Great American Conference Tournament in the quarterfinals. 224 days later, HSU has an opportunity to avenge that loss in this year's opening round as No. 6 seed Henderson State battles the No. 3 seed Golden Suns Thursday, Nov. 18 at 12 p.m. inside Bank OZK Arena in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
 
Henderson State (21-8, 10-6)
The Reddies enter the postseason on a four-match winning streak and have won 10 consecutive sets, sweeping each of its last three opponents. Only two teams in the eight-team field are sporting longer winning streaks while no other team has currently won more than six straight sets.
 
As a team, Henderson is hitting .200 while holding its opponents to .132. On the defensive side of the ball, the Reddies are blocking at a clip of 2.5 per set where the team on the other side of the net is seeing 1.2 rejections per set.
 
Violeta Mendoza Quintana closed the season with a team-leading 335 kills, finishing third in total kills and fifth in kills per set (3.25) among the conference leaders. Fellow outside hitter Mya Robison is fourth and eighth in total kills (311) and kills per set (2.93), respectively.
 
Defending GAC Defensive Player of the Year Makenzie Thoman finished the season second in the league with 585 digs (5.47 digs per set). Her and Kaitlyn Sykes held down the defensive front for the Reddies as Sykes finished third in the league with 1.11 blocks per set.
 
In four trips to the conference championships under head coach Phil McDaniel, Henderson State has seen two opening round victories. The deepest run HSU made with McDaniel at the helm was in 2018 when the Reddies made it to the championship match as a three seed.
 
Thursday's match will be the third time HSU and ATU have played this season. With each team claiming victory the two previous meetings, the key for Henderson will be its defense. In the win over Tech, the Reddies held the Golden Suns to a .119 attacking percentage compared to .225 in ATU's victory. Sykes had eight blocks when HSU downed Tech.
 
Scouting Arkansas Tech (19-7, 13-3)
Arkansas Tech enter the GAC Tournament off back-to-back sweeps of Arkansas-Monticello and Ouachita Baptist. The Golden Suns hit .218 or better in each of those matches. Prior to that, however, Tech lost back-to-back five-set matches, one of which came against Henderson.
 
When it comes to team statistical categories, ATU leads all GAC teams in service aces, registering an average of 2.0 per set. The Golden Suns are also third in the conference in blocks, carrying a 2.14 blocks per set average. Offensively, junior outside hitter Kaitlynn Bradley is third in the league with a .311 attacking percentage.
 
Arkansas Tech has proven to be one of the best tournament teams in the GAC, winning the tournament four times. No other team has won it more than twice (Harding, Oklahoma Baptist). The Golden Suns have made the GAC Tournament every year since its inception in 2011.
 
What To Watch For…
-In the 10 years the GAC Tournament has been played, the six seed has only won its first round match twice (2011, 2019). The last time the eight-team tournament took place, Harding reached the championship match as the six seed (all 12 teams made it the altered Spring 2021 season).
 
-In the last four eight-team post-season GAC Tournaments, Tech has fallen in the opening round three times. The Golden Suns have never advanced past the opening round as anything lower than a two seed in the eight-team format.