TOPEKA, Kan. – The 25th-ranked Harding volleyball team split their matches Friday to open the Washburn Invitational. The Lady Bisons defeated No. 15 Northwest Missouri 3-1 (27-25, 25-17, 25-27, 25-17) but fell to Missouri Western 3-0 (25-21, 28-26, 25-19).
Harding's win over Northwest Missouri was the first win over a ranked team since 2021 when Harding beat Northern State 3-1 who was also ranked No. 15.
Harding moves to 5-1 on the season.
Northwest Missouri falls to 3-2 on the season and Missouri Western improves to 5-1.
NORTHWEST MISSOURI MATCH
FIRST SET
Trailing 5-4 in the first set, Harding went on a 11-1 run on five kills to lead 14-6. Northwest Missouri battled back to take a 24-23 lead. Harding had a kill and block to take a 25-24 advantage. After a Bearcat kill, Harding had back-to-back kills to win the set 27-25. Harding had 18 kills in the set.
SECOND SET
Trailing 3-0, Harding went on a 12-4 fun on six kills to lead 12-7. Northwest Missouri battled back and cut the score to one, twice but the Lady Bisons went on to win the set 25-17. Harding had 13 kills and hit .297 in the set.
THIRD SET
Trailing 20-18, Northwest Missouri went on a 4-0 run to take a 22-20 lead. With the set tied at 23, each team would go on to have a chance to win the set. Tied at 25, Northwest Missouri had a kill and a Harding attack error to win the set 27-25. It was the first set Harding has lost this season.
FOURTH SET
Trailing 4-2, Harding went on a 14-3 run on six kills and four aces to lead 16-7. Northwest Missouri didn't get any closer than six the rest of the way as the Lady Bisons won the set 25-17. Harding had 13 kills and held the Bearcats to hitting .036.
STATS
Harding
- Harding had a season-high 55 kills in the match and hit .201.
- The Lady Bisons were led by Skyler McKinnon who had 14 kills and hit .480.
- Chloe Ingersoll captured a double-double with 12 kills and 14 digs.
- Kelli McKinnon also had 12 kills and four blocks.
- Harding had a season-high 68 digs with Emma Winiger leading the way with 16. Grecia Soriano also had 11.
- The Lady Bisons had 11 blocks with Libby Hinton and Delaney Garner each having three.
- Olivia Wiedower had a career-high 41 assists.
Northwest Missouri
- Northwest Missouri had 49 kills and hit .146 in the match.
- Avery Kemp led the Bearcats with 12 kills. Kasidy Mohwinkle also had 11 kills. Both players hit over .300 in the match.
- Northwest Missouri had 66 digs and was led by Kyah Luhring who had match-high 25 digs.
MISSOURI WESTERN MATCH
FIRST SET
Trailing 3-0 in the first set, Harding went on a 9-2 run on three kills to lead 9-5. Trailing 21-18, Missouri Western went on a 7-0 run to win the set 25-18.
SECOND SET
Trailing 16-14, Harding went on a 5-0 run to lead 20-16. The Lady Bisons had set point, 26-25, but Missouri Western scored three-straight points to win the set 28-26. The Griffons had 17 kills in the set.
THIRD SET
Harding again jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the third set. Trailing 12-10, Missouri Western went on an 8-0 run on four blocks to lead 18-12. The Lady Bisons scored the next two points but the Griffons put the set out of reach with a 4-0 run and eventually went on to win the set 25-19. Missouri Western had 12 kills and no attack errors in the set.
STATS
Harding
- Harding had 40 kills and hit .135 in the match.
- Skyler McKinnon had 11 kills to lead the Lady Bisons.
- Harding had 53 digs in the match with Emma Winiger having 16.
- Olivia Wiedower captured her first career double-double with 28 assists and 10 digs.
Missouri Western
- Missouri Western had 40 kills and hit .250 in the match.
- Emma Salker and Holly Heldt each had 12 kills.
- The Griffons had 54 digs and were led by Anna Weberg who had 14.
UP NEXT
Harding will be wrap up the invitational Saturday when it takes on William Jewell at 10 a.m., and host team No. 17 Washburn at 2 p.m.
