MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The Southern Arkansas Lady Mulerider Volleyball team opened Great American Conference play inside the W.T. Watson Athletic Center on Tuesday night and pushed the defending league champions in Arkansas Tech to the brink before falling in five sets (25-19, 12-25, 19-25, 25-20, 13-15) in a match that wasn't fit for mid-September, but rather one with postseason implications. 
 
Four Lady Muleriders registered double-digit kill totals led by junior Serena LeDuff's 16. Seniors Shelby Lauterbach (12) and Emilie Aase (11) and sophomore Alli O'Banion (10) rounded out the major offensive production while the latter two attacked at a clip of .409 and .320 respectively.
 
The Lady Muleriders (4-6, 0-1 GAC) grabbed the momentum early on as they controlled the tempo en-route to a 13-10 lead in which the Golden Suns (6-3, 1-0 GAC) never led. Two kills from junior Kaitlyn Reiner and a pair of point-scoring blasts from O'Banion helped push the Lady Muleriders out front 22-15 as they also took advantage of a handful of ATU attack errors. LeDuff would end the first frame with a kill, but the Golden Suns would answer back in the second set.
 
With the second set tied at 4, the Golden Suns engineered an 8-1 run that shifted the momentum. A service ace from senior Allie Cecil brought SAU to within six, but Tech would close out the second set on a 7-0 stretch to even the match at one.
 
Arkansas Tech would take the third set courtesy of a 15-6 run that stretched from a 6-3 deficit into an 18-12 lead. The Golden Suns produced an average attack percentage of .484 in the second and third sets committing only four errors in 62 attempts. But Southern Arkansas would weather the storm and battle back to force what would be an entertaining fifth set.
 
A huge 12-3 run powered by three kills apiece from Aase and LeDuff gave the Muleriders a 16-7 advantage, but Tech would refuse to go away in the fourth set as they clawed back to make it 24-20 before Lauterbach sealed the set with a kill.
 
With the final set tied at six, Southern Arkansas put together a run that looked as if would shut down the Golden Suns as SAU took a 10-7 lead, but Tech immediately answered with a 5-2 stretch that tied the GAC opener at 12. A kill by LeDuff was followed up with a pair of kills by ATU that gave the Golden Suns match point. The next serve dropped and Tech took the match in five sets.
 
Defensively, Southern Arkansas weathered several pivotal Tech runs as a result of juniors Hannah Rice's 23 digs and Gillian Newman's three blocks. Aase and LeDuff each added a pair of blocks while juniors Paige Mays and Brittney Johnson combined for 17 digs. 
 
The Lady Muleriders face an open weekend, but return to the court on Tuesday, September 22, for a matchup with Great American Conference opponent Ouachita Baptist. First-serve from inside the W.T. Watson Athletic Center is set for 6:30 p.m.