MAGNOLIA, Ark. - The Harding volleyball team held Southern Arkansas to hitting .015 as it defeated the Lady Muleriders 3-0 (27-25, 25-9, 25-20) on Tuesday in Great American Conference action to stay in the hunt for first place in the GAC standings with three GAC matches remaining.
RECORDS
Harding improves to 19-6 overall and 10-3 in the GAC. Southern Arkansas falls to 9-18 overall and 3-10 in the GAC.
SET ONE HIGHLIGHTS
Harding took a 14-5 lead early in the first set before allowing Southern Arkansas to go on a 7-2 run to pull within four 16-12. The Lady Bisons scored the next four points to take a 20-12 lead. The Lady Muleriders battled back once more and took a 22-21 lead on a 10-1 run. The teams exchanged points and the teams tied three times before Harding had a kill by Zoe Hardin and forced a Southern Arkansas attack error to win the set 27-25.
SET TWO HIGHLIGHTS
The second set was all Harding as the Lady Bisons took a 13-2 early lead and only allowed Southern Arkansas to score nine points. Harding won the set 25-9 as it had 10 kills and forced 10 Lady Mulerider attack errors.
SET THREE HIGHLIGHTS
Trailing 8-7, Harding went on a 6-1 run to lead 13-9. With the Lady Bisons leading 19-13, Southern Arkansas scored six of the next seven points to pull within one 20-19. Harding answered back and closed the set on a 4-1 run on two kills by Sara Smith.
TEAM STAT
It was Harding's sixth straight win and its second straight on the road.
The Lady Bisons had 35 kills, hit .220 and had 10 team blocks.
INDIVIDUAL STATS
Zoe Hardin and Alex Nolan led Harding with eight kills. Hardin, who leads the GAC in blocks had seven while Nolan had 16 digs.
Taylor Lake also had 16 digs for the Lady Bisons.
Seven Powers led Southern Arkansas with 10 kills. Riley Marsh led the defense with 15 digs.
QUOTE
Harding head coach Meredith Fear: "We are always happy to get on the bus with a 3-0 win on a road trip. We were a little more streaky tonight than I would like but we did a good job scoring when necessary. Our defense did a great job tonight."
UP NEXT
Harding will continue GAC action on Thursday when it hosts Henderson State at 6 p.m., at the Rhodes-Reaves Field House.
