MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Great American Conference defending champions Harding Bisons, whose receiving votes in the latest AVCA DII Top 25, came into the W.T. Watson Center thinking they would the leave the building with an easy win over the GAC preseason number ten Muleriders, but head coach Alli O'Banion's squad had different plans.
 
The Muleriders (3-6 | 0-1 GAC) came into conference play looking for a fight and that is exactly what they gave the group from Searcy, Arkansas with a final of three sets to one in favor of Harding (6-3 | 1-0 GAC).
 
FIRST SET
Set one saw a back-and-forth contest of who was going to mess up first offensively. The Bisons would jump out to a 3-1 lead just to then be followed by back-to-back kills from Salado, Texas native Landry Rogers and freshman Brinklee Dauenhauer. Two-point comebacks were a reoccurring theme in set one as Harding would jump ahead multiple points on four more occasions in which was met every occasion for Southern Arkansas till the Bisons took the first set 25-23.
 
SECOND SET
Set two seemed to be all Muleriders after an early shootout till both teams reached the tens. With a Harding service error, Southern Arkansas jumped ahead two points and never looked back. The Bisons would have a short surge to get the set within reach by two (17-15), but the surge would then be snuffed out by a Kayte Delong kill assisted by the junior transfer Macie Shaver making it 18-15. After jumping out to a four-point advantange, Southern Arkansas went on a five-point run that started with a Harding attack error and kills from both Lauryn Moultrie and senior-leader Morgan Schuster after just assisting Moultrie with her kill. The Arlington, Texas native (Schuster) would then finish off the second set as she sent over a service ace followed by a kill assisted by junior Ava Tanner. Southern Arkansas won set two by a score of 25-16.
 
THIRD SET
Until both squads reached nine points in set three, it was anyone's set. Harding would then retaliate the Muleriders momentum by going on a 5-0 stretch to jump ahead 9-14. After a Bison service error, the set looked to still be within reach as Southern Arkansas came back to just being down15-17. Harding would counter the effort with a 4-0 run to claim an advantage of 15-21. SAU would eventually climb back to be within two to Harding at 20-22, but would be unable to withstand the three-kill run from the defending champions.
 
FOURTH SET
Harding used the momentum from set three to jump out to a quick 7-19 lead over Southern Arkansas. There was no slowing down for the preseason favored Bisons as they would take set four 11-25 along with the match.

STAT LEADERS
The junior Kayte Delong led the Muleriders in kills as she marked down seven of them off of 26 attacks. Hudson and Rogers recorded six kills each. Moultrie led the team in total points with nine on the night. Moultrie, native of Fairburn, Georgia, also led the squad in total blocks with three. Schuster once again led her team in assists with 17 on the night and now 2,943 in her career. Mary Insalaco, Natural State native, made her name known to the crowd at the W.T. Watson Center as she led Southern Arkansas in digs with twenty.
 
Coach O'Banion and her Muleriders now look towards the weekend where they will compete in the Auburn Montgomery Tournament in Montgomery, Alabama hosted by Auburn Univeristy-Montgomery. Southern Arkansas is set to compete against Albany State on Friday at 11:30 AM and then Miles College that evening at 4:30 PM. On Saturday, SAU will take on Edward Waters (Fla.) at 12:30 PM and the host Auburn-Montgomery at 3:00 PM. For more information on these events, visit www.MuleriderAthletics.com.