ARKADELPHIA – Harding edged the Ouachita volleyball team in five sets on Thursday night in a battle of the two second-place teams in the Great American Conference.
The Bisons (21-4, 11-3 GAC) won by set scores of 23-25, 25-21, 22-25, 25-19 and 15-6.
Ouachita (14-12, 10-4 GAC) took the opening set 25-23, hitting .343 with 15 kills and just three errors. Harding responded with a 25-21 win in the second set before the Tigers regained the lead with a 25-22 victory in the third.
The Bisons evened the match with a 25-19 win in the fourth set and carried that momentum into the deciding set, hitting .429 while limiting Ouachita to three kills.
Sophie Henry led Ouachita with 14 kills and added seven blocks.
Ella Irons finished with 12 kills, while
Leah Gardner contributed 10 kills.
Mack Bidwell eclipsed 1,000 career assists in the match, finishing with 43.
Defensively,
Kylie Kisgen led the Tigers with 20 digs, while
Delaney Gonzalez added 16.
Kailey Thedford finished with 13 digs, and Bidwell contributed 13 digs.
Ouachita finished with 55 kills and eight total blocks. Harding recorded 68 kills and seven blocks, while both teams finished with 78 digs.
Already having clinched a GAC Tournament berth, the Tigers look to finish the regular season strong next week with matches against Arkansas Tech and Henderson State.
