SEARCY, Ark. — Following their epic sweep of Arkansas Tech on Friday, Southern Nazarene fell in a tough five-set battle against Harding Saturday afternoon, dropping their fourth GAC match of the 2023 season. 

The Storm (11-7,3-4 GAC) and the Bisons (12-7,7-0 GAC) were fairly even across the boards, but Harding's slightly better hitting percentage was just enough to gain the extra set win over SNU. History shows Harding is a tough matchup for the Storm as SNU has only won two of the 11 meetings between the two teams. 

The Bisons put up a fierce attack game right from opening serve, delivering rounds of kills that allowed them to work up to an eight-point lead midway through the set. After SNU was forced to take time, they cut the lead back seven after two Bisons attack errors. Harding continued to succeed on the offensive end, but numerous errors from both sides kept the gap between five and seven points. SNU was never able cut the deficit and the Bisons took set 1, 25-17. 

Set 2 featured an entirely different game plan from SNU as the Storm attacked Harding early, piecing together a 10-5 advantage. Harding fought back midway to trail by two, but SNU powered down a kills and turned up their defense to pull away with the 20-14 lead. The teams traded attacks in the final possessions, but SNU's mid-set lead  was too much to overcome for Harding and the Storm snatched set 2, 25-20.

Tied at 1-1, the teams fought to gain an edge in set 3. SNU started off hot with a 4-0 run which propelled them to maintain a lead for most of the set. Harding put pressure on the Storm after chipping away at a three-point deficit with a 5-0 run, achieving their first lead of the set at 16-14. It didn't take long for the Storm to respond with a strong defense and offensive combo where they reclaimed the lead at 20-18. SNU outscored the Bisons  5-2 on those last few possessions and the Storm were able to come away with the 25-20 set 3 victory. 

SNU looked to put the match away in set 4 as they had a 2-1 lead over Harding. The squads went at one another the entire set with multiple lead changes and ties. SNU held the largest lead of set 4 at 14-11. SNU reached set point first after three consecutive points from a Batschelett kill, a service ace, and a costly Harding error. Harding did not go away as easy as SNU had hoped, stealing the last three points of the set to ten it 26-24. 

Set 5 came down to the wire as both teams fought for the lead. After trading leads and hitting numerous ties, Harding was the first to reach set point after two consecutive kills, making SNU have to work extra hard on defense in the next possession. The Storm succeeded and Batschelett delivered a kill that cut the lead back down to one. At 14-13, Harding was able to seal SNU's fate, powering down a kill of their own to win the match 15-13. 

Rayanna Mauldin led SNU in kills with 17. Batschelett and Henry each had 12. Brubaker tallied 44 assists and Madeline Lynch led with 26 digs. 

Up Next

SNU will return to Bethany on October 9th to host Newman University at 6 p.m. This will kickstart SNU's four-game home stand stretching across two weeks.