SEARCY – The North Alabama defense had 85 digs to lead the Lions past the Harding Volleyball team on Saturday in non-conference action at the Rhodes Field House 3-1 (23-25, 25-9, 25-19 and 25-22). The Lady Bisons fall to 13-10 on the season.

Five Lions ended with double-figure digs. Leading the way was junior outside hitter Natalie Marsh who had 21. Defensive specialist Lauren Greenhill had 16, outside hitter Brigid O'Brien ended with 15, setter Hope Rayburn ended with 11 and defensive specialist Shae Watkins ended with 10. North Alabama held Harding to 47 kills on 172 attempts with 24 errors for a .134 hitting percentage.

The Lions were led on offense by outside hitter Cara Gregg who had 17 kills. Senior middle blocker Sarah Roberts ended with 14 and outside hitter Ari smith ended with 13 for North Alabama.

Harding was led by freshman outside hitter Mollie Arnold who had 14 kills and 12 digs for her 11^th career double-double. Senior middle blocker Samantha Anderson had 10 kills for Harding.

The Harding defense was led by senior defensive specialist Emily Tate who had 19 digs. Junior defensive specialist Amber Parker added 15 digs for the Lady Bisons.

The Lady Bisons trailed early in the first set 11-4, but Harding went on a 6-0 run to cut the deficit to one. A North Alabama kill and a Harding attack error allowed the Lions to take a two point lead, 13-11. A Lion service error and two straight Harding kills gave the Lady Bisons their first lead in the set, 14-13. The two teams exchanged points until Harding went on a 3-0 run on a kill and back-to-back blocks to take a 22-20 lead. Arnold's kill allowed Harding to take the set, 25-23.

The Lady Bison kept the second set close early on until North Alabama went on a 14-2 run and didn't look back, taking the set 25-9.

In the third set, neither team broke away until midway through the set when the Lions went on a 7-2 run to take a 23-18 lead. North Alabama took the set on back-to-back kills to go up 2-1 in the match.

The Lions jumped out to a 10-4 lead in the fourth set but Harding battled back to cut the deficit to two. Three Lady Bison attack errors allowed North Alabama to take a 20-14 lead.  With match point on the line, Harding again battled back on a 4-0 run to come within two of UNA, 24-22. The Lady Bison rally was cut short by an Ari Smith kill to give the Lions the victory.

Harding will be back in action on Tuesday when they host Christian Brothers in Gulf South Conference action at 7 p.m., in the Rhodes Field House.