KEARNEY, Neb. – The No. 8 seed Harding volleyball team fell to the ninth-ranked Concordia-St. Paul, the No. 4 seed, Friday 3-1 (19-25, 25-14, 25-14, 25-13) in the semifinals of the NCAA Central Region Tournament hosted by Nebraska-Kearney.

Harding defeated the host team and the third-ranked team Nebraska-Kearney Thursday to advance to the semifinals. It was Harding’s and the Great American Conference first ever win in the NCAA Tournament.

Harding ends its season with a 28-6 record and the loss snapped a 14 match winning streak.

Concordia-St. Paul improves to 24-8 overall and will play Washburn Saturday for the central region championship.

FIRST SET

Trailing 5-4 in the first set, Harding went on a 9-1 run to lead 13-6. Concordia-St. Paul pulled within two, 18-16, but the Lady Bisons went on a 7-3 run to win the set 25-19. Harding had 11 kills in the set and held the Golden Bears to hitting .048.

SECOND SET

Concordia-St. Paul bounced back and took a 9-3 lead in the second set. The Golden Bears went on to win the set 25-14. Concordia-St. Paul had 17 kills in the set.

THIRD SET

Concordia-St. Paul continued its momentum in to the third set when it jumped out to a 14-3 lead. The Golden Bears won the set 25-14. Concordia-St. Paul had 17 kills and hit .400 in the set.

FOURTH SET

Leading 12-7, Concordia-St. Paul went on an 8-0 run to lead 20-7. The Golden Bears won the set 25-13. Concordia-St. Paul had 18 kills and hit .333 in the set.

STATS

Harding

– Zoe Hardin led Harding with nine kills and six blocks.

– Katherine Cowart and Taylor Lake each had nine digs.

– Rachel Heussner had 23 assists, eight digs and four blocks.

– Harding hit .106 in the match.

Concordia-St. Paul

– Kennedy Brady had 27 kills for the Golden Bears.

– Sara Macek had 16 kills and Brooklyn Lewis had 11 kills.

– Tori Hanson had 19 digs.

– Concordia-St. Paul had 64 kills, 30 attack errors and hit .234.

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