Golden Suns to Meet Harding in GAC Final

Arkansas Tech University and Harding University will meet in the championship match of the Great American Conference Volleyball Tournament for the fourth time in the seven-year history of the league.

The nationally eighth-ranked Golden Suns (34-0) and the Lady Bisons (27-5) will take the court at Bank of the Ozarks Arena in Hot Springs at 2 p.m. Saturday with the GAC Tournament championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament on the line.

Live coverage of the match will be available at www.gacsportsnetwork.com.

ATU advanced to the final with a four-set win over Southern Nazarene University on Friday. HU made it to the championship match with a straight sets semifinal victory against Oklahoma Baptist University.

Arkansas Tech defeated Harding twice during the regular season. The Golden Suns swept the Lady Bisons 25-22, 25-14, 25-16 when the two sides met in Russellvile on Sept. 19.

It was a different story for the rematch at Searcy on Nov. 7. Tech survived three Harding match points in the fifth and final set to earn a 27-25, 21-25, 25-15, 18-25, 20-18 win that clinched the GAC regular season title outright for the Golden Suns.

Arkansas Tech is 2-1 against Harding in their three previous meetings in the GAC Tournament final. The Golden Suns defeated the Lady Bisons in 2011 and 2013, while Harding held the upper hand in 2012.

ATU is searching for its fourth GAC Volleyball Tournament title. The Golden Suns also won the championship in 2014.