HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The Harding volleyball team fell to Southern Arkansas 3-2 (13-25, 25-22, 21-25, 25-22, 15-13) on Thursday in the opening round of the Great American Conference Tournament.
RECORDS
Harding (No. 5 seed) ends its season with a 15-16 record. Southern Arkansas (No. 4 seed) improves to 19-13 overall and will play No. 1 seed Arkansas Tech on Friday.
SET ONE HIGHLIGHTS
Trailing 10-9 in the first set, Harding went on a 16-3 run to win 25-13. The Lady Bisons had 10 kills in the set and hit .242.
SET TWO HIGHLIGHTS
Trailing, 15-12 in the second set, Harding scored three straight points to tie the set at 15. The Lady Bisons stayed close and with them trailing 20-18, Harding scored four straight points to lead 22-20. Southern Arkansas scored the next five points to win the set 25-20.
SET THREE HIGHLIGHTS
Harding jumped out to an 11-8 lead in the third set until Southern Arkansas went on a 7-2 run to lead 15-13. The Lady Bisons battled back with a 6-1 run on four kills. The Lady Muleriders climbed back into it and tied the set at 21. Harding forced three straight attack errors and Southern Arkansas had a bad set to give the Lady Bisons the win 25-21. Harding had 13 kills in the set.
SET FOUR HIGHLIGHTS
Southern Arkansas took a 7-3 lead in the fourth set before Harding went on a 5-0 run to lead 8-7. The Lady Muleriders scored the next six points to lead 13-8. Southern Arkansas extended its lead 20-13 on the next points. Harding fought back and pulled within one 22-21 on an 8-2 run on three blocks. Southern Arkansas only allowed Harding to score one more point as they won the set 25-22.
SET FOUR HIGHLIGHTS
Southern Arkansas took a 6-3 lead in the fifth set. Harding had kills by Emily Clayton and Abigail Glosup and a block by Zoe Hardin and Glosup to tie the set at six. Southern Arkansas scored the next two points and then the teams exchanged points until the Lady Muleriders had a kill and forced two attack errors to lead 13-9. With the season on the line, Harding scored the next three points to pull within one 13-12. Southern Arkansas then had a kill to lead 14-12. Harding stayed alive after it forced an attack error. A kill by Lady Mulerider Serena LeDuff gave Southern Arkansas the set and the win.
TEAM STATS
Harding had 52 kills in the match and hit .116 with 29 attack errors. The Lady Bisons had 14 blocks and a season-high 115 digs. Harding's digs tied for the eighth most in school history. It was the first time since last season at Northwestern Oklahoma Harding had over 100 digs in a match.
The Lady Bisons digs on Thursday was the most digs by a Harding team in a conference tournament. Harding set the record in 2013 when it went five sets against Ouachita and recorded 112 digs.
The Lady Bisons also had 14 blocks in the match. It tied for the most by Harding in a conference tournament. The Lady Bisons had 14 against Alabama-Huntville in the Gulf South Tournament in 2004 and 14 against Southern Arkansas in 2011 in the GAC Tournament.
Southern Arkansas had 57 kills with 33 attack errors. The Lady Muleriders hit .107 and had 110 digs.
INDIVIDUAL STATS
Harding was led by junior middle blocker Sara Smith and senior outside hitter Molly Howard who each had 12 kills. Freshmen Emily Clayton and Zoe Hardin added 11 apiece.
Molly Howard captured her 12th double-double of the season as she had a career-high 23 digs. Junior setter Abigail Glosup also captured a double-double with 36 assists and a career-high 23 digs.
Freshman defensive specialist Taylor Lake had 18 digs, freshman outside hitter Madison Poen had a career-high 16 digs and junior defensive specialist Bianca Trevino had 12 digs.
Harding's defense continued at the net with freshman middle blocker Zoe Hardin who had nine blocks which set a new GAC Tournament record. It also tied Zanda Hardin's record for the most blocks in a conference tournament by a Harding player. Zanda Hardin set the record in 2005 against West Georgia in the Gulf South Conference Tournament.
Southern Arkansas was led by Serena LeDuff who had 20 kills. Hannah Rice set a new GAC Tournament record with 44 digs in the match.
QUOTE
Harding Head Coach Meredith Fear: "We lost a tough, hard fought match against a competitive SAU team. Our defense did great things but we lack consistency in serve receive and offense. Molly Howard had a great night and I'm very proud and thankful for her contribution to this program."
