Storm Upset Bid Slips Away versus HU

DURANT, Okla. – Abby Jameson's 15 kills led all attackers in the match, but it was not enough to lift Southeastern past Harding on Friday night in a 3-1 loss in Bloomer Sullivan Gymnasium.
 
The loss drops the Savage Storm to 5-14 overall and 1-5 in Great American Conference play heading into a Saturday morning matchup with No. 18 Arkansas Tech in Bloomer Sullivan Gymnasium at 10 a.m.
 
"That second set," said head coach Brianna Barry, "It showed what kind of fight we do have. We executed that second set perfectly, and that is the hardest part about going into a game like this, because it is going to be tough. Harding is tough. We have played them in the past, but we just weren't able to execute. That third set was super close, then we just went away from things that were working well, and that's really tough for us."

Jameson's 15 kills led all hitters, while SE nearly put a trio into double digits as Arianna Baker and Hallie Smith each finished with nine in the effort.
 
Alissa Benson, honored pre-match as SE's all-time assists leader, turned in 37 assists in her return to the starting lineup while adding three kills, an ace, a block and seven digs.
 
Defensively, Caitlin Cosby finished the match with 23 digs to leads the Storm defense, while Jameson completed a double-double with 12 digs.  Kristi Carter was just shy of double figures with nine, while Grace Shehadeh added eight.
 
Smith and Baker led the net defense with three blocks apiece, while Benson, Jameson and Hannah Grant added one each.
 
The Storm jumped out to an early 7-1 lead in the first set, but seven-straight HU points would put the visitors up 11-9. SE would use a 5-0 run to regain the lead and would hold a 21-19 lead before the Bisons took six of the last seven points to swipe set one 25-22.
 
Set two was a truly back-and-forth affair, with the teams knotted at 21-21 before the Storm returned the favor and took four of the next five points, three by kill and one by ace, to even the match at 1-1 with a 25-22 win in the set.
 
SE rallied from an early deficit in the third set and tied the match at 12-12, but HU would slowly pull ahead and ultimately take 13 of the next 19 points from that point to take the set 25-18 and open a 2-1 lead.
 
The Bisons opened another early lead in the fourth set, but a Storm rally nearly erased the deficit and made it 10-9 on a Jameson kill. Unfortunately, SE would be stuck playing catch up all match until HU used a 7-1 run to hand Southeastern a 25-15 loss in the final set.