ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – The No. 36 Harding women's tennis team defeated Delta State 6-3 on Thursday in a neutral-site matchup at the Heflin Tennis Center.

The Lady Bisons improved to 4-0 with the victory, while Delta State, a member of the Gulf South Conference, fell to 1-1.

Harding's women will return to action Monday, Feb. 16 against Central Arkansas in Conway.

Harding won two of the three doubles matchups, earning victories at No. 1 and No. 3. Piper Huey and Ali Bishop won their sixth straight doubles match and improved to 8-2 with an 8-4 victory over Charlotte LeFlohic and Sophia Louisa Niemeyer.

Harding picked up its second point at No. 3 doubles, where the freshman duo of Brittany Smyser and Emily Faulkner won 8-4 to improve to 2-0 as a team.

Harding's lead grew to 4-1 when Bishop and Huey both won their singles matches. Bishop won 6-3-6-4 at No. 2 for her fourth straight singles victory, and Huey won her team-best seventh singles match 6-1, 7-5 at No. 1. Both remained 4-0 in dual singles matches.

Delta State cut the Harding lead to 4-3 with victories at No. 3 and No. 4 singles, but Smyser gave the Lady Bisons the victory with a 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 5. Smyser has a team-best five-match winning streak. Faulkner added Harding's last point with a three-set victory at No. 6, the first three-set match of her career.

Harding has won the last two meetings with Delta State after the Lady Statesmen had won the previous 15 contests.

Doubles

1.    Piper Huey/Ali Bishop (HU) d. Charlotte LeFlohic/Sophia Louisa Niemeyer (DSU) – 8-4

2.    Alex Howe/Katharina Assmann (DSU) d. Katie Huff/Arielle Butler (HU) – 8-5

3.    Brittany Smyser/Emily Faulkner (HU) d. Sandra Tora/Sara Alvarez (DSU) – 8-4

Singles

1.    Huey (HU) d. LeFlohic (DSU) – 6-1, 7-5

2.    Bishop (HU) d. Assmann (DSU) – 6-3, 6-4

3.    Howe (DSU) d. Huff (HU) – 6-3, 6-2

4.    Niemeyer (DSU) d. Butler (HU) – 0-6, 6-2, 6-1

5.    Smyser (HU) d. Alvarez (DSU) – 6-4, 6-4

6.    Faulkner (HU) d. Hristina Koceva (DSU) – 6-3, 3-6, 6-3