ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – The Harding volleyball team came from behind to defeat Ouachita Baptist 3-2 (27-29, 19-25, 25-18, 25-22, 15-12) Thursday in Great American Conference action.
Harding improves to 23-3 overall and 11-1 in the GAC.
Ouachita Baptist falls to 15-10 overall and 6-6 in the GAC.
The Lady Bisons have already sealed their spot in the GAC Tournament November 16-18 in Hot Springs, Arkansas. With four GAC matches remaining, Harding will be fighting for seeding.
The last time the Lady Bisons came from behind down 2-0 in a match was in 2010 at Ouachita Baptist.
FIRST SET
Trailing 24-20 in the first set, Harding went on a 5-0 run to lead 25-24. With the set tied at 27, Ouachita Baptist had a kill and a block to win the set 29-27. The Tigers had 20 kills in the set.
SECOND SET
Ouachita Baptist took an 18-14 lead midway through the second set. With a 21-17 lead, the Tigers won the set 25-19 on a 5-2 run. Ouachita Baptist hit .500 in the set and had 20 kills.
THIRD SET
With a 13-12 lead in the third set, Harding blew the set open when it went on an 8-0 run to lead 21-12. The Lady Bisons went on to win 25-18. Harding held Ouachita Baptist to hitting .045 in the set and forced eight attack errors.
FOURTH SET
Harding jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the fourth set and did not relinquish the lead the rest of the way as it fought off Ouachita Baptist to win the set 25-22.
FIFTH SET
Harding took a 5-3 lead early in the fifth set. Ouachita Baptist battled throughout the set until the Lady Bisons had a kill by Emma Reeves and a block by Zoe Hardin and Selena Foster to win the set 15-12.
STATS
Harding
- Harding had four players in double-figure kills. Selena Foster had a career-high 15 kills and Zoe Hardin also had 15 kills. Taylor Mounts added 13 kills and Emily Smith had a career-high 10.
- Rachel Heussner captured a double-double with a career-high 62 assists and 16 digs.
- Taylor Lake led Harding with 26 digs. Foster added 18 digs and Madison Poen tied a career-high 16.
- Harding had eight team blocks in the match. Zoe Hardin led Harding with eight and Selena Foster captured a career-high with five.
- Zoe Hardin also had three service aces.
Ouachita Baptist
- Ouachita Baptist was led by Adrianna Nolly who had 20 kills. Kori Bullard had 19 kills and Anna Lee Drennan and Katie Camp each had 14.
- Stormi Leonard had 67 assists and 13 digs for the Tigers.
- Nikki Clay led the defense for Ouachita Baptist with 22 digs.
QUOTE
Head Coach Meredith Fear: "It took us a while to get grooving tonight. Ouachita did some really good things offensively that we needed to adjust to. It was a high level, hard fought match on both sides."
UP NEXT
Harding will return to action Tuesday when it hosts Southern Arkansas in GAC action at 6 p.m., at the Rhodes-Reaves Field House.
