ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Henderson State pulled out a Tuesday night thriller against the top team in the Great American Conference, upsetting Arkansas Tech on Student-Athlete Night in the Duke Wells Center, 25-21, 25-22, 22-25, 21-25, 15-10.
 
Tyasia McGruder tied her season-high with eight kills to only one error for an attack percentage of .233 in the triumph. Reigning GAC Defensive Player of the Year Makenzie Thoman had a match-high 30 digs to fuel the upset.
 
Violeta Mendoza Quintana served up a double-double, finishing with 11 kills and a season-high 25 digs while Mya Robinson also saw a double-double with 11 kills and 13 digs.
 
SET ONE
The Reddies came out hot against the first-place Golden Suns, hitting .162 in the opening frame. With both teams staying stride-for-stride, Tech took a 12-11 lead before HSU went on a 6-1 run to take the 17-13 advantage. Henderson maintained the four point lead the rest of the way as it claimed the opening set, 25-21.
 
The Reddies defense held ATU to only a .079 attack percentage in that first stint as Tech had seven errors to only 10 kills along with four service errors and a ball-handling error on HSU's set-point.
 
SET TWO
Despite Tech seizing the first three points of the set, four unanswered points from the hosts foreshadowed a similar fate as the first set for the Golden Suns. This time around, Tech enjoyed a brief 11-7 lead before the Reddies came back with another 5-1 run to knot it up at 12 apiece.
 
A pair of 3-0 spurts from Henderson put set number two away, 25-22, as HSU backed up its conference second-best opponent attack percentage, keeping Tech at a .067 clip to take the 2-0 lead.
 
SET THREE
With a potential sweep staring the first-place Golden Suns in the face, they took an early lead and never looked back as Tech led through the entirety of the third frame, building its biggest lead of the match at 14-6. Despite HSU cutting it to 20-19, ATU used a pair of attack errors and a service error to continue play with the 25-22 win.
 
SET FOUR
In a set that saw six lead changes, Henderson saw its final lead of the frame at 18-17 before it was Tech's turn to go on a 4-0 run and take the slim 21-18 edge. That was all ATU needed as it used back-to-back kills to close the set and take all the momentum as the match stood at 2-all after a 25-21 fourth set score.
 
SET FIVE
With the total score reading 93-93, the tally had to give one way or the other. The fifth-set tiebreaker started out in favor of the Golden Suns early on with a 3-1 head start. Moments later, a pair of Tech attack errors and kills from Kaitlyn Sykes and Christiane Uzoh put HSU ahead 5-3.
 
Arkansas Tech was able to climb back and tie it up at 6-6 and again at 9-9 after the Reddies held a 9-6 advantage. With it looking like neither team was willing to give an inch, freshman Trinity Sharp entered play with HSU ahead 10-9 and served up three straight points, including her lone service ace of the night, to give the Reddies the commanding 13-9 lead.
 
Mendoza Quintana and Uzoh came through with back-to-back kills to close the frame and put the finishing touches on the upset, giving HSU the 15-10 fifth-set victory.  
 
Henderson State (18-8, 7-6) will have one day off before returning to the Duke Wells Center to take on the Cotton Blossoms of Arkansas-Monticello Thursday, Nov. 4 at 6:30 p.m.