DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern put four players in double-digits in kills and gave conference-leading Arkansas tech all they could handle, but ultimately fell short in a dog fight, 3-1, on Friday night in Bloomer Sullivan Gymnasium.
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The loss drops the Savage Storm to 8-8 overall on the season and 2-2 in Great American Conference play heading into a 10:30 a.m. matchup with Harding on Saturday morning. The Bisons topped East Central 3-0 on Friday.
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SE fell in the first set 25-21, bouncing back from a nine-point deficit early to close to within three points before the Golden Suns pulled out the set win.
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The Storm trailed for almost the entire second set, with ATU holding set point with a 24-20 lead.
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Southeastern fought off four set points and would pick up a 26-24 win in the set to event he match at 1-1 on a block by
Ariel Sanders and
Alissa Benson.
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The Storm would hold a lead for much of the third set, including a 19-15 advantage before the Suns would score five-straight points and seven of the last 10 in the set to hand SE a 25-23 loss and take a 2-1 lead.
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The normal 25 points was not enough to handle the fourth set as SE fought off five set points after finding itself down 24-22 and would eventually push out to a 28-27 lead.
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However, ATU would score the final three points in the set to clinch the match with a 30-28 win in the fourth set.
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Four Southeastern players reached double-digits in kills, led by 16 from
Megan Kunkel, while
Julia Benford added 13,
Courtney Miller turned in 12 and
Emily Gentle chipped in 10. Sanders nearly made it a fifth by finishing with nine.
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Benson led the setters with 42 assists on the night, while
Madelynne Cera picked up eight assists while splitting time in the first two sets.
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Defensively,
Kelsey Zerkel picked up 20 digs to lead the way, while three others completed double-doubles with double-digit dig outings. Miller led that group with 14 digs, while Kunkel added 13 and Gentle finished with 12.
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Sanders led the defense at the net with three blocks.
