BOLIVAR, Mo. – The Harding volleyball team split its matches Friday at the Southwest Baptist Classic, falling to Christian Brothers in five sets (12-25,21-25,25-22,25-23,15-11) before rallying to defeat host Southwest Baptist, also in five sets (25-22,24-26,25-18,14-25,16-14).
Harding improves to 4-2 on the season.
Christian Brothers improves to 2-3 and Southwest Baptist falls to 2-3.
CHRISTIAN BROTHERS MATCH
The Harding volleyball team started strong Friday, winning the first two sets before Christian Brothers rallied to take the final three for a 3-2 victory at the Southwest Baptist Classic.
Ella Drake led Harding capturing a double-double with 11 kills and 12 digs. Rauly Eason hit for a team-high .368 with nine kills and four blocks. Payton Hilmer finished with 10 kills and three blocks. Philomina Klotz led Harding at the net with six blocks.
Olivia Wiedower led the Lady Bisons with 37 assists. Maddie Burrough had a career-high 20 digs with three service aces and seven assists.
As a team, Harding outhit Christian Brothers .186 to .124 and had 10 team blocks compared to the Buccaneers' seven.
Here is a set-by-set breakdown of the match:
· Set 1: Harding 25, Christian Brothers 12: Harding dominated the first set from the start, taking an early 6-0 lead with a combination of Christian Brothers' errors and a kill by Philomina Klotz. The Lady Bisons extended their lead to 13-2 with strong play from Olivia Wiedower, who had two service aces, and Rauly Eason and Payton Hilmer, who each had two kills. Leading 21-11, Harding scored four of the next five points to win 25-12.
· Set 2: Harding 25, Christian Brothers 21: Trailing 8-6, Harding went on a 10-5 run on five kills to lead 16-13. The Lady Bisons had three set points before a kill by Rauly Eason to give Harding the win.
· Set 3: Christian Brothers 25, Harding 22: The Buccaneers mounted their comeback in the third set, which featured eight tie scores and three lead changes. Harding led early 8-5, but Christian Brothers battled back to tie the score at 12. Tied at 12, the Buccaneers took their first lead of the match at 13-12. Harding tied the set again at 20-20, but Christian Brothers went on to win, 25-22.
· Set 4: Christian Brothers 25, Harding 23 The fourth set was another tight affair with 13 ties and six lead changes. Harding led 11-9 on a kill by Rauly Eason before Christian Brothers went on a 5-1 run to take a 14-12 lead, forcing a Harding timeout. Trailing 22-20, Harding went on a 3-0 run to take a 23-22 lead. Christian Brothers scored the next three points on two kills and an ace to win 25-23.
· Set 5: Christian Brothers 15, Harding 11 In the final set, Christian Brothers capitalized on Harding errors to jump out to a 5-1 lead. The Lady Bisons fought back and took a 11-9 lead on four kills. The Buccaneers went on a 6-0 run on two kills and two aces to win the set 15-11.
Christian Brothers was led by Ella Schumacher, who had a match-high 16 kills and 11 digs.
SOUTHWEST BAPTIST MATCH
The Harding volleyball team defeated Southwest Baptist in a five-set thriller at the Southwest Baptist Classic on Friday. The Lady Bisons were led by Jacey Lambert who had 19 kills. Ella Drake added a double-double with 17 kills and 10 digs.
Setter Olivia Wiedower had with 41 assists, 13 digs, and a service ace. The Lady Bisons were led on defense by Carter Fouche who had 14 digs. Maddie Burrough added 13 digs and Avery Stanfill had 11.
Here is a set-by-set breakdown of the match:
· Set 1 (Harding 25, Southwest Baptist 22): Harding started strong, taking the first set. The Lady Bisons saw a balanced attack and capitalized on Southwest Baptist's attack errors late in the set to seal the win.
· Set 2 (Southwest Baptist 26, Harding 24): The Bearcats fought back in a tight second set. Southwest Baptist took a commanding 16-10 lead, but Harding rallied to tie the set at 18. The teams traded points to the end, but the Bearcats took the final three points to secure the win.
· Set 3 (Harding 25, Southwest Baptist 18): Harding regained momentum, winning the set with an impressive .400 hitting percentage. The Lady Bisons went on a 6-0 run to take a 16-14 lead and closed out the set with a 9-3 run, with the final point coming on a block from Rauly Eason and Olivia Wiedower.
· Set 4 (Southwest Baptist 25, Harding 14): Leading 13-12, Southwest Baptist went on a 10-0 run to lead 23-12. The Bearcats went on to win 25-14.
· Set 5 (Harding 16, Southwest Baptist 14): The final set was a back-and-forth battle. Southwest Baptist took a 9-6 lead, but the Lady Bisons clawed back. Trailing 13-10, Harding went on a 6-1 run on three kills to win the set, 16-14.
The Lady Bisons will be back in action Saturday taking on Union at 11:45 a.m., and Missouri Southern at 4:45.
