HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – There was every indication of a heavyweight bout on tap inside the Bank of the Ozarks Arena on day two of the 2015 Great American Conference Tournament presented by Subway as the top-seeded Golden Suns and the fourth-seeded Lady Muleriders traded blows from the outset in Friday's second semifinal match.
 
Led by a strong performance from junior outside hitter Serena LeDuff (19 kills, 14 digs) and 13 kills from senior middle hitter Emilie Aase, the Lady Muleriders (20-13, 9-7 GAC) defeated Arkansas Tech in four sets (21-25, 25-22, 25-20, 25-23) giving the Golden Suns only their third loss this season when winning the match's opening set (24-3). Southern Arkansas advances to the GAC Tournament Finals for the first time in school history and will matchup with three-seeded Southwestern Oklahoma State at 2 p.m. on Championship Saturday in Hot Springs.
 
In the opening set, Southern Arkansas picked up where they left out the previous night as they forced the GAC's top-attacking team into playing long rallies as the first set saw 13 ties, while Tech took their biggest lead of the set at 4, 22-18, after an SAU timeout, propelling them to a 1-0 set lead.
 
The momentum began to shift late in a very spirited second set as Southern Arkansas overcame a 10-5 deficit with a 7-2 run that tied the second set at 12. The Lady Muleriders would then push their lead to five at 17-12 behind the support of a lively SAU crowd that made the trek to Central Arkansas. Tech would storm back courtesy of a pair of kills each from Katie Huff and Hunter Eshnaur as the Golden Suns cut their deficit to two, 18-16, before a service error gave SAU a three-point lead and the serve.
 
The Lady Muleriders would benefit from two more Tech service errors down the stretch in the second frame as the Golden Sun's third service error of the set gave Southern Arkansas set point at 24-21, ending a Tech run in the process. After SAU committed a service error of their own, Tech surrendered the second set as their fourth service error of the second set sent the teams into the ten-minute break tied at a set apiece.
 
After the intermission, both teams picked up where they left off as back and forth action produced 10 ties and six lead changes as Southern Arkansas continued to battle late in the third set as Aase delivered with a pair of set-changing kills sending the Lady Muleriders to the fourth set. Leading 20-18, Aase blasted a kill coming out of an ATU timeout that put SAU up 21-18, before LeDuff set the stage for Aase again after a pair of kills that pushed the Lady Mulerider advantage to 23-18.
 
Aase's second kill brought the SAU faithful to their feet as it gave Southern Arkansas set point, before a Tech attack error gave SAU a 2-1 match lead.
 
Momentum finished shifting in the fourth set as Southern Arkansas finished off the match and suppressed any possibility of a late Tech run as they surged late. A LeDuff kill broke a 6-6 tie and Southern Arkansas would not trail again in the contest as they stayed a step ahead of the Golden Suns in the fourth frame to advance to the tournament finals for the first time as members of the GAC.
 
Senior setter helped set the tone early by facilitating the offensive attack with 48 assists and was one of four players to record 10+ digs as she collected her fourteenth double-double of the season. Junior defensive specialists Hannah Rice and Paige Mays combined for 44 digs.
 
Aase was superb offensively as her 13 kills came at an attack percentage of .522 and led the Lady Muleriders with three blocks. Defensively, Southern Arkansas held the Golden Suns to an attack percentage of .150 and took advantage of four blocking erros and nine service errors.
 
Southern Arkansas will take the floor for game seven of the 2015 Great American Conference Championship match against Southwestern Oklahoma State at 2 p.m. tomorrow with a berth in the NCAA Central Region tournament on the line.
 
Continue to follow muleriderathletics.com for daily updates on SAU Volleyball as they continue their postseason march.