The Lady Bisons volleyball team defeated Southern Nazarene University this Saturday in the Rhodes Field House with a 3-0 win. This makes for the team’s 26th consecutive home court victory.
The Lady Bisons gained momentum the first two sets with 25-17 and 25-16 wins. The last set was a nail biter with a final score of 29-27. Senior Liv Savage ended the game with a kill.
Fifty-one kills occurred throughout the course of the match. Senior Marindia Turner led in kills with 13 total and one block. Savage had 11 kills and three blocks. Two of her kills were crucial in winning the third set and overall match.
The first set began with a 9-5 lead in favor of the Bisons. Southern Nazarene came within two points, making the score 12-10. Soon after, the Bisons had a 10-2 run which helped them snag a 25-17 win.
Harding had tremendous runs and leads in the second set. Quickly, they had a 9-3 lead. Later in the set, they went on a 7-0 run.
“We’ve all been talking about how we want to win and get it done in three,” Turner said.
There were several momentum swings throughout the game.
“I really thrive on pressure, so when games get really intense and get on the line that’s when I try to play my best,” Turner said.
The third and final set was neck and neck throughout, with both teams taking large runs. Several timeouts were taken towards the end of the set to keep the team focused.
“The last timeout I just told them to stay calm, because all the sets that we have lost, primarily, have been within two points so we get to 20 or 23-23, and we we’re not closing,” head coach Meredith Fear said.
“So we work a lot in practice in those types of situations and closing out games and being able to score two or three points in a row, so I think that now when it came to it this time, we were comfortable in that situation and being confident when the game,s on the line. They did that today.”
The Lady Bisons look for this matchup to help them in the future.
“I think that was a really key set for us to win, and I think it will help us and give us momentum into the rest of conference,” Turner said.
Savage said the team was motivated by their loss to Arkansas Tech in their last outing and were determined to come out with a victory against SNU.
“When we found out that (Southern Nazarene) beat Arkansas Tech last night, we were like, we have to win. We have to beat them today,” Savage said.
Fear said that beating SNU like they did should set the tone for their next meeting with rivals Arkansas Tech.
“The fact that we could then turn around and beat (Southern Nazarene) in three (sets) I think is going to send a big message for when we see Tech again,” Fear said.
The Lady Bisons are on the road today against East Central University at 7 p.m. in Ada, Okla.
