Harding takes GAC title over Henderson

Henderson State won the opening set of the Great American Conference Volleyball Championship final on Saturday at Bank OZK Arena, but the Reddies were unable to fend off a senior-laden Harding team over the final three sets.

The Bisons (25-7) won the final three sets to take the GAC title, 23-25, 25-19, 25-20, 25-21. The loss ends Henderson's most successful season in 17 years, as the Reddies (28-6) won 28 matches for the first time since 2001.

"It is so meaningful," said Harding head coach Meredith Fear. "I was in tears afterward. I was going to be crying win or lose just because it meant so much to them. It meant so much to me.

"The last time we were able to go the national tournament was in 2006 when I was a sophomore at Harding University. Well, that was 2005 and we haven't been since 2006. There was just a lot of emotion there."

The four-set match lasted more than two hours as both teams regrouped multiple times in each set with timeouts. The Lady Bisons regrouped in the first set tied at 16-16 after leading, 16-12, their largest lead of the set.

"We got our offense going early," said Henderson head coach Philip McDaniel. "In the beginning of the match, we had our defense going and our blockers were taking charge. They made a couple of adjustments and we tried to adjust to what they were doing. It is kind of a chess match out there.

"Those senior, veteran attackers took advantage of some of our young blockers. They did a really good job. (Rachel) Heussner was setting the ball really well tonight and putting them in good spots. Their attackers took advantage of some oles in our blocks."

Harding put Henderson in a three-point hole at 21-18, but the Reddies answered with a 6-1 push to set up set point. A final kill by Courtney Bolf gave Henderson the lead.

"A lot of times, we talk about the game coming down to serve-pass, which is true, but I think more of it came down to defense," Fear said. "We both have big hitters who could stop their big hitters.

"In that first set, we were just not getting defensive stops that we need to. After that, both defensively and on the block, nothing was going to drop on the floor. Nothing was going to go down without us touching it and they really stepped up."

Henderson led, 8-2, in the second set before Fear called a timeout. McDaniel called his own timeout with the lead trimmed to 9-8.

The Reddies took a lead at 13-12, but the Lady Bisons controlled the rest of the set. Harding won six of the final eight points to tie the match at one set apiece.

Henderson won six of the first seven points before a Harding timeout. The Lady Bisons again chipped away at the lad to tie the set at 10-10.

McDaniel successfully challenged a call that would have made the score 19-14, but the Reddies took over trailing, 18-15. Neither team won consecutive points until a mishit by Henderson gave Harding a 24-19. Harding took the set, 25-20, for the lead.

"We were actually able to build a couple of leads in two of those sets," McDaniel said. "The veteran crew stayed calm. They did not panic and they chipped away and clawed their way back in.

"That is what we have to get a little better at is making sure once we get a lead that we extend the lead. Don't let teams come back in. We were able to do that against some teams, but this senior team was able to hang tight and fight through some of those moments when we had control."

Henderson led again to start the fourth set, but Harding won 12 of the next 15 points to seize control of the set. The Reddies drew level at 14-14, but the Lady Bisons seized control again after a long rally, which included a save at the scorer's table, to take an 18-15 lead.

The lead grew to 21-17 before Harding earned set point. The Lady Bisons clinched the title on a kill by Emma Reeves.

Harding's only conference defeat was a four-set loss to Southwestern Oklahoma State (21-7, 13-3), the No. 2 seed from the regular season, in Weatherford, Okla., on Oct. 5. The Lady Bisons have won all 13 matches since.

They were only 4-6 on Sept. 7 after five consecutive losses. Fear said the team was challenged by a difficult non-conference schedule.

"We played five nationally ranked teams, we got two wins out of that and we were fighting some injuries, like Madison Poen was injured early on," Fear said.

"We came into conference without the record we are used to and we were closer to .500, but I think seeing that tougher level of play early on helped us be better in conference play."

Zoe Hardin earned the MVP honors after she averaged 4.77 points per set and hit .266. Against the Reddies, she tallied 11 kills, four aces and six total blocks.

Heussner and Poen also represented the Lady Bisons on the All-Tournament Team. Bolf and Zuzana Ondruskova represented Henderson State, while Southwestern's Elizabeth McVicker and Ouachita Baptist's Stormi Leonard filled out the team.

Bolf set the GAC Championship single-match record with 81 attempts. She averaged 5.45 kills and 7.27 digs per set. Ondruskova averaged 5.32 points per set and 5.00 digs per set as the only senior on the team.

"It is always tough because you say goodbye to a senior and she did a great job for us," McDaniel said. "We are hoping the sky is the limit for this group. We've got some solid recruits coming in. We will train in the spring and we've got a lot of arms back.

"We'll have everybody back except for Z, but Z was a big piece for us. So, we have to replace somebody who can play six rotations and has the ability to pass, receive and get kills for us on the outside. The challenge has been laid for the next person who comes in. We expect when that person slides in that we get back to this conference championship match. Hopefully, next year, we are the senior team and we are able to take charge of this match."

Harding earns the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships. The Lady Bisons will learn their opponent and destination tonight during the selection show, which will stream on NCAA.com at 9 p.m.

Sports on 11/11/2018

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