DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern Oklahoma State hands Harding its first conference loss of the season with a 3-0 sweep inside the Bloomer Sullivan Gym to improve to 3-3 in GAC play and 7-9 overall.
"Huge win for us, and a complete team win," head coach
Nicole Solum-Mitchell said. "This was a huge testament to our fight and to our assistant coach,
Carmen Kinsey, and her dedication to film evaluation and scouting."
The Savage Storm had four players reach double-figure kills, led by
D'Nari Mills with 12 and ten from
Noelia Rocha,
Faith Kruebber and
Ruthie Forson. Both Mills and Forson notched double-doubles, as Mill added 20 digs to her totals while Forson dished out 35 assists.
Patience Lewis led the back row with 26 digs and chipped in two of the team's six service aces.
SET ONE
The Storm held a 9-6 edge at the first break after a 4-0 burst to force a timeout from the visitors. Out of the break, SE stayed on the front foot, building on its advantage with a 5-0 run, featuring two kills by Moffett to extend the lead to 15-9. Southeastern would soon see its advantage grow to 19-11 after two more kills off the hand of
Maci Morrison.
Harding used its second timeout of the set and quickly regrouped, scoring in a hurry to cut SE's lead to one, 21-20. The Lady Bisons soon took the lead 23-22 to force the final timeout from Southeastern. SE rallied for the final two points of the frame to take the first set 25-23.
SET TWO
The Lady Bisons carried a 7-4 lead to start the frame before SE tied things 9-all on a 4-0 stretch, capped off by an ace from Lewis. Harding remained in front, building its lead to 14-10 on a 5-1 run. Southeastern began to chip into the HU lead, starting with a 3-0 run that extended into a 6-0 burst, giving SE the advantage,18-17.
The traded leads again, as the Lady Bisons would go back in front, but it would only last a few minutes, as the Storm rattled off five straight points, including three consecutive kills by Kruebbe to push SE in front 24-20. HU continued to battle with a 3-0 burst before Mills slammed down the final kill to win the frame 25-23.
SET THREE
Southeastern and Harding were locked at 5-all through the first ten points, and it would be the Storm to find the first breakthrough on a 5-0 run to lead 10-5. SE added to its lead moments later on a 3-0 spurt, featuring kills from Mills and Rocha to keep ahead 15-8. The Storm did not allow Harding to get into any rhythm, as HU only chained together two or more kills once in the set.
The blue-and-gold took its largest lead of the frame after a kill by Mills and an attack effort from the Lady Bisons and would remain in control through the final exchanges of the frame to claim a 25-18 win.
Southeastern is back in action tomorrow at 2 p.m. inside the Bloomer Sullivan Gym as the Savage Storm host Arkansas Tech.
