RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – Southern Arkansas lost its chance for the second seed in the upcoming postseason Great American Conference volleyball tournament as Arkansas Tech handed them a 3-0 shutout in the teams' final league match of the year Thursday at Tucker Coliseum.  Scores were 19-25, 21-25 and 21-25.
 
Both teams finish the conference season tied for second with identical records, but the Golden Suns (25-9, 11-3 GAC) earned the No. 2 seed for the tournament by virtue of a tie-breaker, having won both matches between the two this year.  ATU claimed a 3-1 decision over the Lady Muleriders (22-10, 11-3 GAC) in mid-October in Magnolia.
 
Brittany Ryan and Kaitlyn White led Tech's Thursday attack with 12 and 11 kills, respectively.
 
Junior outside hitter Denise De Vine (Lake Elsinore, Calif.) had half of SAU's team total with a match-high 16 kills, and also added 14 digs.
 
The Golden Suns hit an efficient .306 in the contest, while limiting Southern Arkansas to just .087, and held a 46-32 advantage in kills.  The Lady Muleriders had 22 attack errors to only 12 for ATU.
 
SAU had five service aces in the match, getting three from junior setter Klaire Blasco Vine (Downey, Calif.), who also tossed up 26 assists.  Junior libero Lauren Woods (Kennedale, Texas) had the other two aces and snared 11 digs.
 
Morgan McKellar had 16 digs for Arkansas Tech, and Sara Motsinger finished with three blocks.
 
Southern Arkansas lands the third seed in the GAC tournament to be held November 15-17 in Searcy at Harding's Rhodes Field House.  The Lady Bisons earned the right to host the event by winning the regular season championship with a perfect 13-0 league mark.
 
The Lady Muleriders play the first match in the tourney, facing No. 6 East Central (Okla.) at noon on Thursday, November 15.  SAU defeated the Lady Tigers 3-2 in Magnolia in the teams' only meeting this season.
 
The second-seeded Golden Suns will face No. 7 Arkansas-Monticello that Thursday at 2:30 p.m., top-seeded Harding squares off against No. 8 Southeastern Oklahoma State at 5 p.m., and the finale of the first round will match No. 4 Southwestern Oklahoma State and No. 5 Ouachita Baptist at 7:30 p.m.  The semi-final matches will be on Friday, November 16 at 3:30 and 6 p.m., with the championship match set for November 17 at 3 p.m.
 
Southern Arkansas ended the conference season with its highest finish at second since the 2003 team achieved the same spot in the West Division of the Gulf South Conference, and at 22 wins this year, also matches the most since the 2003 team finished that season 22-12.  They advance to the postseason GAC tournament for the second consecutive season, after reaching the semi-final round last year as the No. 6 seed.
 
First though, the Lady Muleriders will shoot for their 23rd win of the year in closing out the regular season by traveling Saturday to Livingston, Ala., for a noon match against West Alabama.