By: Houston Taylor
RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – Southern Arkansas suffered its second 3-0 blanking to Arkansas Tech this year, falling 15-25, 18-25 and 14-25 Tuesday at Tucker Coliseum. It was the Golden Suns’ 19th 3-0 shutout of the season, while the young Lady Muleriders have now lost seven such matches on the season.
ATU has now won 10 straight matches and improves to 25-3 on the season and still perfect in Gulf South Conference play at 8-0. SAU drops to 10-15 and 2-6 in the GSC West.
Tech used a strong hitting performance and notched 12 service aces in toppling Southern Arkansas. They held a 42-32 kill advantage, hit .344, and had nine team blocks, while the Lady Muleriders had an attack percentage of just .178.
Sarah Von Lienen finished with 10 kills on 13 chances and committed just one error to hit .692 in leading the Golden Suns. Dana Florian added nine as nine different ATU players recorded kills.
Kayla Allison and Racheal Urquhart posted eight digs apiece, and Florian had eight blocks at the net.
SAU senior outside hitter Sarah Bell led all players with 12 kills, making three errors in 18 total attempts for a .500 hitting percentage. Senior middle blocker Veronica Ogbeide chipped in nine kills, hitting .467. Sophomore setter Michaela Scroggins finished with 28 assists. Strong lately in its serving game, Southern Arkansas mustered only two in the match.
The Lady Muleriders managed just 32 digs against Arkansas Tech’s hitting efficiency, led by senior libero Mallory McKee with eight. Freshman defensive specialist Erica Malone added seven, while Ogbiede had four blocks.
SAU stays on the road, traveling Saturday to face Christian Brothers in a 1 p.m. match.
