SHAWNEE, Okla. – Kelli McKinnon and Logan Smith combined for 27 kills to lead the 24th-ranked Harding volleyball team to a 3-1 (17-25, 25-17, 25-15, 25-20) victory over Arkansas Tech in the quarterfinals of the Great American Conference Tournament.
The Lady Bisons advance to the semifinals and will face No. 4 seed Ouachita Baptist at 5 p.m., Friday. Coverage links can be found on HardingSports.com
Harding is making its 10th appearance in the GAC Tournament and is the No. 1 seed after winning the GAC regular season with a 16-0 record.
Logan Smith had 12 kills in the match to propel her over 1,000 career kills. She is the 14th player to reach the milestone. Smith is the seventh player in Harding history to have 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs.
With the win, Harding has now won 26 straight matches. The streak dates to August 27. The Lady Bisons broke the previous record of 17, set in 2002 and 2005.
Harding improved to 28-1 on the season and Arkansas Tech fell to 8-22.
FIRST SET
Harding trailed 5-1 in the first set before battling back to tie the set at six after going on a 5-1 run. Arkansas Tech took a 17-11 lead midway through the set that Harding couldn't overcome as the Golden Suns won the set 25-17. Arkansas Tech had 13 kills in the set and held the Lady Bisons to only six.
SECOND SET
After going down 2-0 in the second set, Harding went on a 11-3 run on five kills to lead 11-5. Arkansas Tech battled back and cut the lead to one two times but the Lady Bisons went on to win the set 25-17. Harding had 12 kills in the set and forced seven Arkansas Tech attack errors.
THIRD SET
Harding carried its momentum into the third set jumping out to 9-5 lead. Arkansas Tech quickly rebounded with a 3-0 run to trail 9-8. The Lady Bisons got a kill from Kelli McKinnon which started the run to take the set 25-15. Harding had 14 kills and hit .306 in the set.
FOURTH SET
Trailing 10-8 in the fourth set, Harding went on a 6-1 run on two kills and two aces to lead 14-11. Leading 22-20, Harding had two kills and an ace to win the match 25-20. The Lady Bisons had 13 kills and forced eight Arkansas Tech attack errors.
STATS
Harding
- Harding had 45 kills, 20 attack errors and hit .181 in the match.
- The GAC Player of the Year, Kelli McKinnon, led the match with 15 kills and hit .367.
- Along with Logan Smith's 12 kills, she also had 11 digs.
- Grecia Soriano led the defense with 12 digs. She also had three aces.
- For the second straight match, Libby Hinton had five aces which tied her career high.
- Harding had 11 aces in the match which was the ninth time this season the Lady Bisons have had more than 10 aces.
Arkansas Tech
- Arkansas Tech had 40 kills, 27 attack errors and hit .098 in the match.
- The Golden Suns were led by Maddi Siedenburg who had nine kills.
- Megan Solberg led the defense with 19 digs.
