RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The East Central University volleyball team wrapped up its Arkansas road swing with a 3-0 sweep over Arkansas Tech University on Friday inside Tucker Coliseum.
 
With the win, ECU moves back up to 6-5 in GAC play.

"It is always nice to get a sweep," Head Coach Danielle Essix said. "We made it fun but ultimately finished and that is what we needed. I like that we are showing we have resilience, especially after our tough match last night." 

The Golden Suns built an early 5-1 lead before the Tigers used a 6-1 run to erase the gap and get out front 7-6. The teams traded points from there, tying the score four times until Arkansas Tech broke away to regain the lead at 18-14. But an impressive 11-3 scoring run by the Tigers propelled ECU to the end, eventually closing out the opening set 25-21.
 
ECU continued the momentum in set two, racing out to a dominating 12-2 lead. Arkansas Tech slowly chipped away at the deficit, but the Tigers kept the Golden Suns at arm's length, not letting them get any closer than six points to close out the set 25-19.
 
The third and final set was the closets all match with Arkansas Tech and ECU going nearly point-for-point until the end. Set three saw eight ties and five lead changes with the Golden Suns managing to lead 23-19 late to threaten a fourth set. But the Tigers refused to go down as they responded with six consecutive points to secure the 25-23 set win and 3-0 match victory.
 
Odalys Gonzalez led the Tigers with 18 kills while Emma Strickland finished with 10 kills and added 13 digs. Julia Kabala ran the offense with 36 assists and 11 digs and Sydney Roshek added a team-high 21 digs.
 
ECU will be back on the road next week to take on Southwestern Oklahoma State University on Thursday, Oct. 26 at 6 pm.