ARKADELPHIA – The Ouachita volleyball team rolled to a three-set Great American Conference sweep over Harding on Thursday night at home to move to 3-0 in league play.
Overall, the Tigers improve to 12-3. Harding drops to 10-3 overall and 1-1 in GAC matches. Final game scores from Thursday were 25-21, 25-23, and 25-17.
A four-point run in the first set put the Tigers up 12-5. With two quick points from Harding, the Tigers bounced back with four straight to have control the rest of the way. Harding trimmed its deficit down to three on multiple occasions, but the big runs for the Tigers gave the home team an early lead in the match.
The second set was the closest of the match with 17 tied scores and seven lead changes. Ouachita won five of the last seven rallies to pin Harding's backs against the wall heading into the third set.
Harding controlled early in the third, but the Tigers bounced back to keep it close and caught fire at the end, winning 11 of the final 13 rallies to finish of the Bisons.
Key performers for the Tigers:
- Kailey Thedford led with 11 kills and only two errors on 35 total swings.
- Riley Braziel added 10 kills, eight digs, two aces.
- Emily Adams posted nine kills on a .350 hitting percentage and added four blocks.
- Leah Gardner had five kills and no errors on 17 swings. She also had five blocks.
- Courtney Hanson posted her fourth straight double-double and 10th overall of the season with 31 assists and 10 digs.
- Kylie Kisgen posted a match-high 16 digs.
As a team, the Tigers won the battle at the net with 9-4 advantage in blocks. Ouachita finished with a .282-.164 edge in hitting percentage.
Ouachita is off this weekend and will return to action next Tuesday, September 30 on the road against Arkansas Tech.
