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Arkansas Tech spoiled the home opener for the Lee volleyball team as it handed the Lady Flames a 3-1 loss on Friday afternoon on day one of the Holiday Inn Express Classic from Walker Arena.

All four sets went down to the wire with the Golden Suns holding off a late charge from Lee in the fourth and final set to win 25-20. Arkansas Tech won the opening set, 25-22 before the Lady Flames flipped the script and won by the same margin in the second. The all important third set went to the Arkansas club by a 25-21 margin.

Fresh off Gulf South Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors MaKayla Beebe slid, dove and tumbled all over the court to record a match-high 34 digs for the Lady Flames. The senior libero also had a pair of aces. Silvia Sartori led the way offensively with 13 kills while southpaw Bailey Kress joined her in double-figures with 11. Hanna Matthews had 40 assists, 11 digs and five slams to showcase her versatility. Alex Reuter added nine kills and defended at the net with four blocks in the contest.

The Golden Suns, receiving votes in the latest AVCA Top 25 poll, got 16 bigs slams from Allie Anderson and a double-double performance from Hunter Eshnaur (14 kills, 19 digs) to help them move to 2-0 on the day. Arkansas Tech made quick work of the Shorter Hawks earlier in the day winning, 3-0. The Golden Suns improve to 3-3 on the year and will wrap up the weekend against No. 11 Palm Beach Atlantic tomorrow morning at 9 a.m.

The Lady Flames (0-5) will be searching for their first win of the season in the nightcap tonight at 7 p.m. Lee will wrap up the weekend with No. 11 Palm Beach Atlantic on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.