SHAWNEE, Okla. – The 24th-ranked Harding volleyball team had four players in double-figure kills as it defeated No. 7 seed Northwestern Oklahoma 3-1 (25-27, 25-23, 25-17, 25-21) in the Great American Conference Tournament Championship Saturday. It was the Lady Bisons third GAC Tournament Championship.
With the win, Harding earned the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division II National Tournament. The tournament selection show will be Sunday at 9:30 p.m., CT on NCAA.com.
Logan Smith and Emma Winiger were selected to the all-tournament team and Kelli McKinnon was named the tournament MVP. McKinnon joins former Harding player Mollie Arnold as the only Lady Bisons to be named MVP.
Harding has now won 28-straight matches. The streak dates back to August 27th. The Lady Bisons broke the previous record of 17 that was accomplished twice with the first being in 2002 and the second in 2005.
Harding improves to 30-1 on the season and it is the first time since 2005 the Lady Bisons have won 30 matches in a season. It is also the ninth time in program history Harding has had 30 wins in a season.
Northwestern Oklahoma falls to 17-15 overall.
FIRST SET
Harding took a 4-2 lead in the first set until Northwestern Oklahoma went on a 12-2 run on five kills and five blocks to lead 13-6. The Lady Bisons battled back and tied the set at 25 but Northwestern Oklahoma won the next two points to win the set 27-25. The teams combined for 33 kills in the set.
SECOND SET
With the second set tied at seven, Harding went on a 13-4 run to take a 20-11 lead. Northwestern Oklahoma battled back and tied the set at 23 but a kill by Skyler McKinnon and a Ranger attack error gave the Lady Bisons the set 25-23. Harding had 16 kills in the set.
THIRD SET
Harding jumped out to an 8-4 lead in the third set before Northwestern Oklahoma went on a 7-2 run to take a 11-10 lead. With the set tied at 13, the Lady Bisons went on a 12-4 run on eight kills to win the set 25-17. Harding had 14 kills and hit .314 in the set.
FOURTH SET
Trailing 4-2 in the fourth set, Harding went on a 6-0 run on five kills to lead 8-4. Northwestern Oklahoma battled back and got within three 18-15, but the Lady Bisons went on a 4-0 run and didn't look back as they won the set 25-21.
STATS
Harding
- Harding had 62 kills, 28 attack errors and hit .173 in the match.
- Kelli McKinnon led the Lady Bisons with 16 kills. Skyler McKinnon also had 15 kills and hit .467 in the match.
- Logan Smith captured a double-double with 12 kills and 15 digs.
- Ally Stoner had 11 kills and four blocks for the Lady Bisons.
- Sarah Morehead also captured a double-double with 37 assists and 15 digs.
- Harding had 96 digs in the match with five players in double-figures. Emma Winiger led the Lady Bisons with 32 digs. Kinley Schnell also had 12 digs and Grecia Soriano had 11 digs.
- Harding had eight service aces in the match with Libby Hinton having five of them. It was the second time in the tournament Hinton has had five aces in a match. She had as many against Arkansas Tech in the first round.
Northwestern Oklahoma
- Northwestern Oklahoma had 49 kills, 24 attack errors and hit .135 in the match.
- The Rangers were led by Addison Wimmer who had 18 kills and 15 digs.
- Cameron Lobb also had a double-double with 39 assists and 17 digs.
- Andrea Coady led the defense with 22 digs.
- Northwestern Oklahoma had 16.5 blocks in the match, the most by a Harding opponent in a GAC Tournament match.
