Box Score

MAGNOLIA, Ark. – On Tuesday night, Harding University, the top team in the Great American Conference, came to the W.T. Watson Center and earned a straight sets win over Southern Arkansas in conference play.
 
Despite the straight sets loss, Southern Arkansas played the Lady Bisons (21-7, 10-0 GAC) close early on in each of the first two sets. Over those two sets, there were a total of nine tie scored and three lead changes.
 
The final lead change in the first set came with the score knotted at 15-all. From there, Harding rattled off five unanswered points to take a 20-15 lead. The Lady Bisons' run would be stopped momentarily as Lisa Copeland delivered a service error. The Lady Muleriders (14-11, 4-6 GAC) would be unable to build upon that error as Harding notched the next five points to take the set 25-16.
 
In the second set, the Lady Muleriders got off to a quick 4-0 lead, but a four-point run by the Lady Bisons evened the set at four-all. From there, the Lady Bisons would score seven out of the next 10 points to take an 11-7 lead. Later in the set, the Lady Muleriders climbed back to within a point, 13-12, but a quick 4-0 run put the Lady Bisons back in charge. From there, the Lady Muleriders would get to within three points, but Harding eventually took the set 25-20.
 
Unlike the previous two sets, set three was not in question for long as the Lady Bisons went on a 7-1 run after falling behind 2-0 to take a 7-3 lead. As in the first set, the run would momentarily be stopped on a Harding service error. Following that error however, the Lady Bisons went on a 6-1 run to take a 13-5 lead. The lead would grow to as large as 12 points, 19-7, before the Lady Muleriders made a valiant effort to get back into the set. Trailing 19-7, SAU went on a 7-1 run to get to within six points, 20-14. The hard-fought rally would end there, however as Harding collected the final five points to earn the set win and match win.
 
Six different Lady Muleriders recorded kills in the match with Hailey McNee leading the way with six kills. Gabby Clark paced the offense the entire match as she had all 21 of the team's assists. Clark also helped lead the Lady Muleriders defensively as she tied for a team-high 14 digs. Lauren Woods matched Clark's dig output with 14 digs of her own.
 
The Lady Muleriders will look to rebound as they begin another lengthy slate of games on the road. The first of which is a match at Henderson State on Thursday, October 31. First-serve for the match is set for 7 p.m.