RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The Southern Arkansas Lady Mulerider Volleyball team dropped their Great American Conference opener on the road Tuesday night in Russellville as league preseason number one Arkansas Tech picked up a straight sets victory (17-25, 24-26, 18-25) inside Tucker Coliseum.

RECORDS

Southern Arkansas (3-6, 0-1 GAC)

Arkansas Tech (6-3, 1-0 GAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED

·         Tech jumped out to a commanding 21-9 advantage in the opening set, before SAU put together an 8-4 run consisting of three kills, three ATU attack errors, one service ace and a Tech service error that fell just short.

·         Southern Arkansas led by eight in the second set, 17-9, before the Golden Suns put together a 10-2 run that tied the set at 19. The clubs traded points until a 23-23 tie as ATU scored three of the last four points to take a 2-0 match lead.

·         In the third set, the Lady Muleriders would get as close as three points, 18-15, before Tech closed the match on a 7-3 run with five points coming via kill as ATU produced their highest hit clip of the night at .314 after averaging .129 through the first two sets.

·         Senior Kaitlyn Reiner and junior Brittany Lampkin collectively produced 11 kills paced by Reiner's team-high six to go with a game-high .417 attack percentage.

·         Lampkin and classmate Alli O'Banion each added four block assists in the loss.

·         Freshman Katy Cooper led SAU in assists for the sixth-straight game, with junior Savannah Pillow adding eight. Cooper also added a team-high two service aces.

·         Senior Paige Mays led the Lady Muleriders with 19 digs, while senior Hannah Rice and freshman Riley Marsh added six digs apiece.

FOR THE OPPOSITION

·         Hunter Eshnaur paced the Golden Suns in kills with a dozen and added nine digs.

·         Madison Nagel recorded a team-high 11 digs, while Sarah Rosinke and Amanda Milnick combined for 27 assists led by Rosinke's 17. Rosinke also added nine digs.

·         Lauren Rodemers produced nine kills and added a team-high three block assists.

OF NOTE

·         Southern Arkansas is 1-5 in Great American Conference openers since joining the conference in 2011. The lone victory came in a five-set home win over Ouachita Baptist on September 15, 2012.

·         In the previous five years, SAU is a combined 17-8 in the five GAC matches that follow the league opener.

UP NEXT

·         Southern Arkansas travels to Warrensburg, Missouri, for the Peggy Martin Crossover Challenge hosted by Central Missouri. The Lady Muleriders' three-game slate begins with an 11 a.m. tilt against Newman University on Friday, September 16, before a pair of contests on Saturday.

·         A tournament schedule is available here: http://www.ucmathletics.com/sports/2015/5/27/VB_2015PMC.aspx.

·         Live stats for the matchup are available here: http://www.sidearmstats.com/ucmo/wvball/

·         Be sure to visit muleriderathletics.com for continuing coverage of Lady Mulerider Volleyball including pre- and post-game updates, weekly notes, and the coach's show with Head Coach Britney Davis.