SEARCY – The Harding volleyball team fell 3-2 (25-21, 25-27, 26-28, 25-23, 15-13) to East Central Saturday in Great American Conference action the Rhodes-Reaves Field House.

Harding falls to 11-8 overall and 7-4 in the GAC.

East Central improves to 13-10 overall and 9-2 in the GAC.

FIRST SET

Trailing 4-3, East Central went on a 6-0 run on three kills to lead 9-4. Harding got within one 12-11 but the Tigers went on to win the set 25-21. East Central at 17 kills in the set.

SECOND SET

With set point on the line in the second set, 24-22, East Central went on a 3-0 run to lead 25-24. Harding battled back and won the set 27-25 scoring the next three points. The Lady Bisons had 12 kills in the set with Ally Stoner and Logan Smith each having five.

THIRD SET

With the third set tied at 22, Harding had back-to-back kills to lead 24-22. East Central answered back to tie the set at 24 on two Harding attack errors. With the set tied at 26, the Lady Bisons had back-to-back kills to win the set 28-26.

FOURTH SET

Harding jumped out to a 11-5 lead in the fourth set before East Central scored the next seven points to lead 12-11. Trailing 15-14, the Tigers went on a 5-0 run to lead 19-15. Harding fought back to pull within one 24-23 but a kill by Garcia Thalianette gave East Central the set 25-23.

FIFTH SET

Trailing 11-10 in the fifth set, East Central scored the next four points to lead 14-11. A kill by Nyah Walker gave the Tigers the set 15-13.

STATS

Harding

-          Harding had 57 kills, 29 attack errors and hit .141. The Lady Bisons had four players in double-figure kills.

-          Ally Stoner and Logan Smith each had 14 kills for the Lady Bisons. Kelli McKinnon also had 12 kills and Skyler McKinnon had 10 kills.

-          Sarah Morehead had 50 assists in the match. It was the third time this season she has had 50 or more assists in a match.

-          Harding had 88 digs led by Logan Smith who had 23. Emma Winiger also had 20 digs.

-          The Lady Bisons had 11 blocks in the match led by Libby Hinton who had five. Sarah Morehead and Kelli McKinnon also had four blocks.

East Central

-          East Central had 67 kills, 38 attack errors and hit .141.

-          Nyah Walker led the Tigers with 15 kills.

-          Emma Strickland led the defense with 26 digs.

UP NEXT

The Lady Bisons will be back in action Thursday when it hosts Henderson State at 6 p.m., at the Rhodes-Reaves Field House.