Magnolia, Ark. – Sophomore outside hitter Hailey McNee fired a career-high 20 kills in addition to 20 digs en route to her 13^th career double-double despite the Southern Arkansas volleyball team falling to Harding, the second-highest ranked team in the Great American Conference, in five sets (27-25, 21-25, 25-13, 23-25, 10-15) Tuesday night at W.T. Watson Center.

"On the positive note, when we execute and we play, we can play with anybody," Head Coach Steven Gream said. "We have the confidence that we can play with them. All of my players did a great job tonight in different facets of the game, and that's what it takes to beat good teams."

With the score tied at 24 in the first set, Southern Arkansas (9-17, 5-7 GAC) and Harding (16-6, 9-2 GAC) traded points after back-to-back attacking errors. Then, a kill by McNee and a block from senior outside hitter Amanda Monge sealed the first set for the Lady Muleriders.

After a McNee kill brought the second set to 16-14 in SAU's favor, the Lady Muleriders would score the next three points via a Monge and Logan Tolbert assisted block, a Monge kill and a McNee ace. The Lady Bisons, however, scored the next six points behind several short serves from setter Taryn Eubank that threw off
the Lady Mulerider offense. With the set tied at 20, Harding scored five of the next six points on three kills and two SAU attacking errors to take the second set.

The third set belonged to the Lady Muleriders from the start. After Monge smashed a kill to open the set, the senior outside hitter utilized her devastating jump serve to shake up the Lady Bison offensive attack, recording a service ace and helping SAU score the next three points in the process to give SAU a 4-0 lead.

With the Lady Muleriders holding a 10-8 lead, Monge fired a kill and freshman Alli O'Banion followed with back-to-back kills and an assisted block to push the lead to 14-8. After McNee crushed a kill to make it 19-13 SAU, the Bentonville, Arkansas, native took matters in to her own hands and served out the set, recording two service aces in the seven-point run.

The Lady Muleriders found themselves in a 24-20 deficit in the fourth set after an O'Banion kill handed the serve over to Taylor Reaume, statistically the most reliable Lady Mulerider server this season. Three straight Lady Bison errors brought SAU within one, but Harding attacker Molly Howard recorded a kill on the next point to tie the match at two sets apiece.

A McNee kill brought the fifth set to 8-6 in the Lady Bisons favor, and Harding would respond with two consecutive points via Erica Helm with a kill and a service ace to further the lead to 10-6. The Lady Bisons would pull away, scoring three straight points after a Monge kill to boast a 13-7 advantage. Monge drilled three kills in the next four points, but a Lady Bison block would end the match in Harding's favor.

Monge added 19 kills in the match, and Reaume (48 assists) and sophomore libero Hannah Rice (30 digs) also made significant contributions. Junior Shelby Lauterbach and McNee each had four aces. This is the second consecutive match in which SAU finished with double-digit aces.

The Lady Muleriders stay at home for senior night, honoring Monge and Angela Gaignard, Thursday night versus Texas College at W.T. Watson Center.