SEARCY – The Harding volleyball team battled for every point Thursday and it paid off as the Lady Bisons defeated East Central 3-2 (15-25, 25-20, 19-25, 25-20, 15-13) in Great American Conference action at the Rhodes-Reaves Field House.

Harding stays in first place in the GAC standings as it improved to 14-8 overall and 9-1 in the GAC.

East Central falls to 10-12 overall and 5-5 in the GAC.

FIRST SET

Trailing 11-6 in the first set, Harding went on a 4-1 run on two kills to pull within two, 12-10. East Central answered back with a 9-1 run on five kills to lead 21-11. The Tigers went on to win the set 25-15. East Central had 11 kills in the set.

SECOND SET

Harding jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the second set on four kills before East Central battled back on a 11-1 run on four kills and three blocks to lead 12-7. The Lady Bisons answered back with a 17-6 run on seven kills to lead 24-18. After two Tiger points, Harding had a kill by Skyler McKinnon to win the set 25-20. Harding had 13 kills in the set.

THIRD SET

Trailing 15-14 in the third set, East Central went on a 5-0 run on two kills and two aces to lead 19-15. Harding got within three, 21-18 but the Tigers won four of the next five points to win the set 25-19. East Central had 12 kills in the set.

FOURTH SET

Harding jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the fourth set on six East Central attack errors. Leading 15-12, the Lady Bisons went on a 4-0 run to lead 19-12. Harding had four set points before a kill by Delaney Garner gave the Lady Bisons the set 25-20. Harding only had four attack errors in the set.

FIFTH SET

East Central took an early 4-2 lead in the fifth set on two kills. Harding answered back with an 8-2 run on six kills to lead 11-7. The Tigers then won five of the next seven points to pull within one, 13-12. The teams exchanged points until a kill by Olivia Wiedower gave Harding the set 15-13. Harding had 10 kills in the set.

STATS

Harding

-          Harding had 53 kills, a season-high 31 attack errors and hit .115 in the match. It was the 10th time this season the Lady Bisons have had over 50 kills in a match.

-          Chloe Ingersoll captured a double-double for the Lady Bisons with 14 kills and 10 digs.

-          Skyler McKinnon also finished in double-figures with 12 kills.

-          Harding had a season-high 105 digs in the match. Six players ended with double-figure digs as Emma Winiger led the defense with 27 digs. Logan Smith-Morgan also had 19 digs, Olivia Wiedower had 14, Cam Hinton had 13 and Avery Hall had 11.

-          Harding had eight aces in the match and were led by Winiger who had a career-high seve. Her aces tied for the second most in a match in school history. Mollie Arnold holds the record when she had nine against Arkansas-Monticello in 2013.

-          The Lady Bisons had nine blocks in the match with Ashley Lamkin having six.

East Central

-          East Central had 50 kills, 27 attack errors and hit .112 in the match.

-          Emma Strickland led the Tigers with 13 kills and 17 digs.

-          East Central had 95 digs in the match and was led by Sydney Roshek who had 29.

UP NEXT

Harding will be back in action Friday when it hosts Southeastern Oklahoma at 4 p.m., at the Rhodes Reaves Field House.