BETHANY, Okla. — Anytime Southern Nazarene and Arkansas Tech meet there should always be high expectations and Friday afternoon was no different for two of the top teams in the Great American Conference.
 
For the second straight year in the regular season, and for the third straight time overall, the Crimson Storm and Golden Suns went five sets.  Last year's GAC Championships final saw SNU take a 2-1 lead before falling late, but it looked like the roles could have been reversed after ATU took a 2-0 lead early in the 2015 meeting.
 
The Golden Suns (19-5, 11-0 GAC) took the first two sets 25-21 and 25-20, but the Crimson Storm (11-13, 7-3 GAC) began to work its way back in the third set and brought the largest crowd of the year to its feet more than once before the night was done.
 
SNU led from start to finish in the third as the Storm hit .243 (13-4-37) and had five kills from McKayla Benner in the set. The sophomore hit .714 in the set and added three blocks. SNU raced out to a 17-9 lead and forced the Suns to use two quick timeouts and the Storm didn't let off of the gas.
 
Trailing 12-9 in the fourth set, SNU answered with a 5-0 run to lead 14-12, but watched, ATU control pace out to a 22-21 lead. SNU answered though with four straight points, including a pair of kills by Courtney Bowie to wrap up the set and force a fifth and final set.
 
Tech though responded loudly with a 7-1 start to the fifth and SNU came no closer than three the rest of the way as ATU won its seconds straight five-set match over the Storm.
 
Bowie finished with 17 kills and hit .394 on the night. She also added five blocks and four digs. McKayla Benner had 14 kills to go with five blocks and five digs. Kaitlyn Vought was just a kill away from a double-double as she had nine kills and 17 digs. She also had three blocks and an ace. Lexie Matthew also had nine kills along with nine digs.
 
Elyse Berlin had 46 assists and a pair of aces. Abbey Bell finished with 11 digs.
 
SNU out hit (.209-.205), out dug (63-56) and out blocked (10-8.5) Arkansas Tech, but had 10 service errors and gave up nine aces from the Suns.