BOLIVAR, Mo. – The Harding women's volleyball team split in the first round of the Southwest Baptist Tournament on Friday. The Lady Bisons fell to Texas A&M-Kingsville 3-0 but bounced back defeating Christian Brothers 3-0.

HU moves to 4-3 on the season.

Junior outside hitter Mollie Arnold led Harding on the day with 21 kills, 12 against Texas A&M-Kingsville and nine against Christian Brothers. Junior middle blocker Alyssa Short led HU in hitting with a .472 percentage. Short led HU with a season-high 11 kills in the CBU match.

The Harding defense was led by junior defensive specialist Lisa Copeland who averaged 4.67 digs in the two matches. She had 12 in the first match and 16 in the second. Copeland has had over 10 digs in every match this season.

In the first match of the day against Texas A&M-Kingsville (5-0), Harding gave away points in the first set as the Javelinas took a 13-4 lead on a 6-0 run behind four HU hitting errors. The Lady Bisons tried to rally pulling within two (23-21) on a Marindia Turner kill but two errors gave TAMUK the set 25-21. Harding took an earlier 6-3 lead on two kills by Bailee Graham but the Javelinas went on a 6-1 rally to take a 9-7 lead. With the set tied at 23, Texas A&M-Kingsville scored back-to-back points to take the set 25-23. Harding had a 19-13 advantage in the third set on a 6-0 run but TAMUK rallied to tie the set at 23. The Lady Bisons had a chance to win the set with a 25-24 lead but the Javelinas scored two straight points to force match point. A kill by Graham tied the set but two straight kills by TAMUK gave them the match with a 28-26 set score.

In the second match against Christian Brothers (4-2), Harding dominated in the each set. The Lady Bisons jumped out to an 18-10 lead in the first and didn't allow the Lady Bucs to get any closer than five. In the second set, HU took a commanding 19-12 lead but allowed CBU to pull within two, 24-22 but a CBU service error gave the Lady Bisons the set. In the third, HU once again jumped out to a 21-13 lead but a kill by Short gave HU their second sweep of the season as they took the set 25-18.

The Lady Bisons will play their final two games of the tournament on Saturday as they face Saint Leo at 9 a.m. and Pittsburg State at 3:30 p.m.