HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The Harding volleyball team swept Oklahoma Baptist 3-0 (25-23, 25-17, 25-19) Friday in the semifinals of the Great American Conference Tournament at Bank of the Ozarks Arena. Harding hit .352 in the match, which was the best by a Harding team in the GAC Tournament.
The Lady Bisons, the No. 2 seed, advances to either play No. 1 seed Arkansas Tech or No. 5 seed Southern Nazarene, Saturday at 2 p.m., for the GAC Tournament Championship.
Harding improves to 27-5 overall and Oklahoma Baptist falls to 18-15 overall.
FIRST SET
Harding jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the first set before Oklahoma Baptist battled back to pull within one 10-9. The two teams exchanged points until Oklahoma Baptist took a 23-21 lead on a 5-0 run on four kills. Harding answered with a 4-0 run on three kills to take the set 25-23. Harding had 15 kills in the set and two attack errors.
SECOND SET
Harding again took an 8-4 advantage in the second set before Oklahoma Baptist battled back to tie the set at 17. Harding didn't allow another point as it went on an 8-0 run on four kills to win 25-17. Harding had 17 kills and hit .385 in the set.
THIRD SET
Trailing 13-8, Harding went on a 12-3 run on nine kills to lead 21-16. Harding had back-to-back kills to win the set 25-19. Harding had 18 kills and hit .429 in the set.
STATS
Harding
- For the second straight match, Harding had 50 kills. Taylor Mounts led Harding with 12 and hit .344. Zoe Hardin had 10 kills and hit .409 and had five blocks. Emily Clayton had 10 kills and hit .364 with two blocks.
- Rachel Heussner had 41 assists in the match which was her second most in a three-set match.
- Harding had 62 digs and was led by Taylor Lake who had 21. Madison Poen added 18 digs for Harding.
Oklahoma Baptist
- Oklahoma Baptist hit .204 in the match and was led by Mikayla Watson who had 17 kills.
- Kelsi Chavez had 18 digs for Oklahoma Baptist. Hayden Blair and Malia Leatherland each added 10.
QUOTE
Head Coach Meredith Fear: "This was a high quality 3-0 win. Oklahoma Baptist was tough and played really well. We stayed composed and answered with great group effort."
