DURANT, Oklahoma – The Harding volleyball team defeated Southeastern Oklahoma 3-2 (18-25, 25-19, 22-25, 25-17, 15-10) on Friday in Great American Conference action.

RECORDS

Harding improves to 9-10 overall and 4-2 in the GAC. Southeastern Oklahoma falls to 4-14 overall and 2-5 in the GAC.

SET ONE HIGHLIGHTS

Trailing 6-5, Southeastern Oklahoma went on a 7-1 run on six kills to lead 14-8. After a Harding point, the Savage Storm had four of the next five points to lead 18-10. The Lady Bisons tried to battle back but they couldn't overcome the deficit as Southeastern Oklahoma won the set 25-18.

SET TWO HIGHLIGHTS

Trailing 13-12, Harding went on an 8-2 run to lead 20-15. The Lady Bisons fought off the Savage Storm and had back-to-back kills to win the set and to tie the match.

SET THREE HIGHLIGHTS

With Harding leading 18-16, Southeastern Oklahoma went on a 4-1 run on three kills to lead 20-18. Harding pulled within two 24-22 but a block gave the Savage Storm the 25-22 victory. The Lady Bisons had 11 kills in the set.

SET FOUR HIGHLIGHTS

Southeastern Oklahoma took a 3-1 lead in the fourth set until Harding went on a 11-3 run on four kills and forced six Savage Storm attack errors. The Lady Bisons held off a Savage Storm comeback and with a 23-17 lead, Harding had kills by Molly Howard and Sara Smith to force a deciding fifth set. The Lady Bisons had 13 kills in the set and hit .297.

SET FIVE HIGHLIGHTS

Harding took a 10-4 lead in the fifth set but allowed Southeastern Oklahoma to pull within two on a 4-0 run. Leading 13-10, the Lady Bisons had a kill by Zoe Hardin and a block to win the fifth set and the match.

TEAM STATS

It was Harding's first true road victory this season.

Harding had 45 kills and hit .137 in the match.

Southeastern Oklahoma had 55 kills and the Lady Bisons forced 34 Savage Storm attack errors. It was the most attack errors Harding has forced this season.

INDIVIDUAL STATS

Harding was led by junior middle blocker Sara Smith who had 13 kills and hit .407. She also had four blocks.

Senior outside hitter Molly Howard had 12 kills and 15 digs for the Lady Bisons.

The Harding defense was led by junior defensive specialist Anna Leigh Cargile who had 24 digs. Freshman middle blocker Zoe Hardin also had a team-high five blocks.

Southeastern Oklahoma was led by Juila Benford who had 14 kills and five blocks. Abby Jameson added 11 kills and Kristina Bergman had 10.

The Savage Storm was led on defense by Charlene Nerio who had 25 digs.

QUOTE

Harding Head Coach Meredith Fear: "The team did a good job fighting through adversity tonight. It's never easy to go into someone else's gym and get a win. We fought hard and played well when it counted."

UP NEXT

Harding will be back in action on Saturday when it travels to Ada, Oklahoma to face East Central at 2 p.m.