Box Score

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The Southern Arkansas volleyball team saw their season come to an end in the opening round of the 2013 Great American Conference Tournament as they fell in straight sets to Arkansas Tech on Thursday afternoon at the Summit Arena in Hot Springs.
 
These two teams came into the tournament very familiar with one another as just a week prior, the Lady Muleriders (17-15) were able to close out the regular season with an intense and hard-fought five-set win over the Golden Suns (23-11) in the friendly confines of the W.T. Watson Center.
 
The turnaround match on Thursday night played out similarly to previous contest, especially during the first set. In that opening set, the two teams went toe-to-toe. The lead would only change hands once in the set, but the two teams battled to eight tie scores and neither team led by more than four points.
 
That apex lead of four points in the first set was garnered by the Lady Muleriders as they took an 18-14 lead after rattling off four unanswered points when the set was knotted at 14-all. Once the Lady Muleriders grabbed that lead, the Golden Suns quickly erased it with a 3-0 run to cut the lead down to a point, 18-17. The Lady Muleriders would withstand that rally from the Golden Suns and maintained the lead until Tech tied the set at 22-all.
 
From there, the Golden Suns would force the set's lone lead change as they ripped off consecutive points to take a 24-22 lead. The Lady Muleriders would survive the first serve for the set by Golden Suns as Amber Cerrillos' serve wad errant. The Golden Suns would wrap up the set on the next point, however, taking the opener by a score of 25-23.
 
In that opening set, the Golden Suns registered 17 kills and hit .324 while the Lady Muleriders totaled 11 kills and hit .229.
 
Set two was not as dramatic as the only two tie scores in the set came at 1-all and 2-all. After that final tie score, Tech went on a 3-0 mini-run to take a 5-2 lead. Later in the set, the Golden Suns were able to swell that lead out to nine points, 16-7. The Golden Suns were the first to 20 points as they did so with a seven-point lead as well. Trailing by that same margin with the score now 23-16, the Lady Muleriders would make the set close as they went on a 6-1 run to make the score 23-19. The Golden Suns would take the next two points, however, to take the set 25-19, and a commanding 2-0 match lead.
 
Set three saw the Lady Muleriders take an early 11-8 lead. From there, however, the Golden Suns ripped off their longest scoring run of the match when they took the next nine points to take a 17-11 lead. The Lady Muleriders would stop that run and work their way back into the match, cutting their deficit down to three points, 20-17. The Golden Suns would withstand the Lady Mulerider comeback attempt and eventually close out the set 25-20.
 
The loss ends the Lady Muleriders' season as the finish the 2013 campaign with a 17-15 overall record.