SE Knocks Off Top-Seed at GAC Tourney

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Southeastern turned in a Great American Conference Tournament conference first on Thursday night when it became the first No. 8 seed to topple a top-seeded team, downing Harding 3-2 in Hot Springs, Ark.
 
The victory was also the program's second postseason win in the last three-seasons and will earn them a berth in the GAC semifinals where it will take on the winner between Arkansas Tech and Southwestern Oklahoma State which was being played in the final match on Thursday night. The semifinal matchup will be at 6 p.m. on Nov. 18.
 
The win also lifts SE to 14-16 on the season.
 
Karine Cavalcante and Abby Jameson turned in huge matches, with Cavalcante turning in 19 kills while hitting .300 while Jameson was right behind with 18.
 
Arianna Baker added 12 kills to reach double-figures, with Julia Benford and Erika Costain each adding nine.
 
Alissa Benson dished out a match-high 58 assists while adding a kill, a pair of service aces, a block and nine assists.
 
Caitlin Cosby led all defenders with 27 digs as the Storm piled up 80 as a team.
 
She was joined in double-digits by Cavalcante and Jameson who each completed double-doubles with 13 and 12 digs, respectively.
 
Baker and Jameson posted three blocks apiece, while Benford added two.
 
Short runs early in the first set would see-saw the score back-and-forth until a 6-1 run would put the Storm in front 15-10. SE would hold that advantage till a Bison run closed to within 20-17.
 
However, Southeastern bounced back with four-straight points for a 24-17 lead before taking the set 25-18 for a 1-0 lead.
 
HU jumped out in front in the second set and stayed there, going up by as much as 24-12 before evening the match at 1-1 with a 25-13 win.
 
The Storm took an early lead in the third set, going up 7-3 on a Jameson kill, but an 8-1 Bison run would put HU back up 11-8.  SE would close to 15-14, but Harding would score 10 of the final 14 points to take a 2-1 lead with a 25-18 win in the set.
 
The teams traded momentum early in the fourth set until Southeastern used an 8-2 run to open up a 15-10 lead after a Costain kill. HU would close to within three points on three occasions over the remainder of the set, the last at 21-18 before a Cavalcante kill and a Benson ace would push SE back up by five en route to a 25-20 win in the set to even the match at 2-2.
 
The Storm would bounce back from a 3-1 run by HU to open the set and led 6-4 before ending up in a 7-7 tie.
 
A Costain kill followed by a Kristi Carter ace and a Cavalcante kill would put Southeastern back in control at 10-7.
 
Harding closed the gap to two points twice, at 10-8 and again at 11-9, but the Storm would close out the set and the match with four-straight points to take the decisive set 15-9 for a 3-2 victory.