HOT SPRINGS, Ark. — Bailee Turang and Makenna Hunter combined for 27 kills and six blocks for Southern Nazarene, but SNU fell 3-1 (25-18, 21-25, 25-17, 25-17) to No. 8 Arkansas Tech in the semifinals of the Great American Conference Championships.
 
Those two were the only two players in double-figure kills for the Crimson Storm (15-18) as they hit .209 (51-19-153) and had 52 digs and six blocks. The Golden Suns (34-0) hit .301 with 63 digs and seven blocks.
 
Kylie Smith had 43 assists and 11 digs while Elyse Berlin had 22 digs. Meagan Ellis had nine kills and eight digs along with two blocks. Kayla Thomas also had seven kills and three blocks.
 
In the first set, Arkansas Tech broke an 8-8 tie with a 4-1 run and never trailed again. The closest the Storm came in the set was 15-13 before the Golden Suns went on a 10-5 run to take the first set. SNU answered in the second set as it hit .282 and held ATU to .163. Turang had five of her kills and two blocks in the set alone. After three ties, SNU broke a 19-19 with a 6-2 run, including a kill by McKayla Benner to tie the match at 1-1.
 
Arkansas Tech responded in a big way in the final two sets as it hit .481 in the third set and .243 in the final set and trailed just once the rest of the way. After leading from start to finish in the third set, the Golden Suns trailed 11-8 in the fourth, but used a 17-6 run and close out the match.