SEARCY – The Harding volleyball team will travel to Oklahoma this weekend to play a pair of Great American Conference matches. The Lady Bisons will play East Central on Friday in Ada, Okla., at 7 p.m., and then play Southeastern Oklahoma on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. Harding heads into the weekend with a 8-4 overall record and a 3-1 GAC record.
Harding
Harding is 4-1 in its last five matches and 3-1 on the road. The Lady Bisons only loss was at Arkansas Tech 3-2 in GAC action.
Harding is coming off a big GAC win (3-0) over then undefeated Southern Nazarene last Saturday. The Lady Bisons were led by senior outside hitter Marindia Turner who had 13 kills and 16 digs.
The Lady Bisons are led on the season by Turner who averages 3.21 kills which ranks third in the GAC. Senior middle blocker Sara Smith leads the GAC in hitting with a .362 percentage. Harding's offense is spearheaded by senior setter Taryn Eubank who leads the GAC in assists, averaging 10.26 per set.
The Lady Bisons defense is led by sophomore defensive specialist Anna Leigh Cargile who averages 4.07 digs per set, ranking her seventh in the conference. Senior middle blocker Liv Savage ranks second in the GAC in blocks, averaging 1.14 per set. She also ranks second in conference in service aces (0.47 per set).
As a team, Harding ranks first in the GAC in digs (18.02 per set) and service aces (1.72 per set). The Lady Bisons rank second in assists (12.23 per set) and kills (13.47 per set).
Harding is coached by Meredith Fear who is in her third season at the helm.
East Central
East Central is located in Ada, Okla., and has an enrollment of 5,727.
The Tigers have lost their last two GAC matches as they head into the weekend with a 0-5 conference record. East Central's last two losses came at Arkansas-Monticello 3-0 and at Southern Arkansas 3-1.
East Central is 3-13 overall.
The Tigers are led by junior outside hitter Sarah Simpson who averages 2.88 kills per set and 2.33 digs per set. Freshman outside hitter Madyson Gill averages 2.72 kills and leads the defense averaging 2.98 digs per set.
East Central is coached by Dave Thorn who is in his seventh season.
Harding leads the series between the two teams 5-0. The Lady Bisons have only given up three sets since the teams first met in 2009. Harding won last seasons meeting in Searcy 3-0.
Southeastern Oklahoma
Southeastern Oklahoma is located in Durant, Okla., and has an enrollment of 4,000.
The Savage Storm will host Arkansas Tech on Friday before hosting Harding on Saturday.
Southeastern Oklahoma heads into the weekend with an 8-7 overall record and a 2-1 GAC record. The Savage Storm have won their last three matches and their last two GAC matches. Southeastern Oklahoma beat Southern Arkansas 3-1 and Arkansas-Monticello 3-2. Both matches were on the road. Their only GAC loss came against Southwestern Oklahoma 3-2.
The Savage Storm are led by senior outside hitter Emily Gentle who ranks ninth in the GAC in kills, averaging 2.98 per set. Junior outside hitter Megan Kunkel averages 2.81 kills per set and 3.05 digs per set. Senior defensive specialist Kelsey Zerkel ranks eighth in the GAC in digs, averaging 3.79 per set.
As a team, Southeastern Oklahoma ranks third in the GAC in hitting percentage (.211), assists (11.67 per set) and kills (12.60 per set).
The Savage Storm are coached by Brianna Barry who is in her first full season at the helm.
Harding leads the series between the teams 16-0. Since the teams joined the GAC in 2011, the Lady Bisons have only given up one set. Harding won the last meeting in Searcy 3-1. The Lady Bisons are 6-0 in Durant.
