ADA, Okla. – The East Central University volleyball team battled Harding University in a tough Great American Conference matchup Thursday night at the Kerr Activities Center, evening the match at one set apiece before the Bisons pulled away to secure a 3-1 victory.
With the result, ECU will look to quickly regroup as they turn around and host Arkansas Tech University tomorrow at 4 pm.
Harding opened the match with a 25-15 win in the first set, hitting .250 to take an early lead.
ECU responded in the second, recording 15 kills and hitting .303 to even the match. Trailing 18-13, the Tigers began chipping away at the deficit before a 5-0 scoring run, highlighted by three kills from
Annabelle Nichter, tied the set at 22-22. After Harding moved within a point of taking the set at 24-22, ECU rallied for four consecutive points, capped by a final kill from Nichter to secure the 26-24 victory and even the match at one set apiece.
The Bisons regained control in the third set, taking a 25-15 decision as ECU was limited to six kills and committed 12 attack errors. Harding carried that momentum into the fourth set, closing out the match with a 25-7 win.
Annabelle Nichter led the Tigers offensively with a career-high 11 kills, adding two digs to finish with 12 points.
Addison Iman followed with 10 kills, while
Reagan Hutchinson contributed eight kills and three digs.
Emily Pena paced the offense with 25 assists and added 12 digs for a double-double, while
Bryleigh Wallace matched Pena with 12 digs to lead ECU defensively.
Lana Wright added three kills and a team-high five blocks.
ECU finished the match with 35 kills and 33 assists, while recording 53 digs. The Tigers also totaled four service aces and seven blocks. Harding finished with 55 kills, 52 assists, eight aces and 15 blocks while hitting .315 as a team.
