From SWOSU Sports
Doug Self, Sports Information Director
WEATHERFORD – On a night where offense was hard to come by for SWOSU’s Carly Zak, the senior from Wylie, Texas, put down four kills in the fifth set, the final at match point as the Bulldogs defeated Harding 3-2 (25-15, 25-19, 14-25, 18-25, 15-12) at the Pioneer Cellular Event Center.
While her 10th kill ended the thrilling match, it will also be remembered as historic because it moved Zak into a tie atop the Great American Conference all-time kills list with 1,459. She currently sits tied for first place in the GAC’s all-time kills list with Molly Arnold of Harding.
Zak may have been the closer on Friday night, but it was the middle hitting duo of Paige Holt and Kelsi Schmidtberger who got the party started for the Bulldogs. Each player had four kills in the first set, while Holt had five and Schmidtberger three in the second set to help SWOSU pull ahead 2-0. The Dawgs hit better than .270 in each of the sets while holding Harding to a combined percentage of .130 to build the lead.
Harding, a team that entered the match in third place in the GAC standings, mounted their comeback in the third and fourth sets, turning the statistical table and hitting above. 200 for the next two while holding SWOSU to a percentage under .100.
The Lady Bisons also came alive from the service line, netting four service aces in the third and fourth sets to go along with 28 digs, many of which coming off strong Bulldog attacks.
On the final point of the fourth set, Harding scored on a blocking error from Zak, who came down awkwardly on her right ankle and was slow to get up, causing a collective gasp from the SWOSU faithful inside the Pioneer Cellular Event Center. After getting back to her feet, Zak made her way to the bench and got taped up before returning to the court just in time for the start of the fifth and deciding set.
And what a set it was.
Zak immediately got the first point of the final set with a kill from her outside position, but Harding would then take control with five of the next six points as they built a 5-2 lead. It was at that point that Zak got another kill to end the rally and make it 5-3 before she rotated to the back row to serve.
After rotating in at the other outside position, Jill Green got back-to-back kills and Blair Dressendorfer struck with a service ace to get the Dawgs back to even at 6-6.
Harding scored the next point on a kill at 7-6, but a service error tied the set at 7-7 and sent DeLayni Fine back to the service line. SWOSU scored the next three points, keeping momentum through the turn on kills by Kayla Hebert and Schmidtberger that gave the Dawgs a 10-7 advantage.
Green put down another kill and Zak showcased her defensive ability with a solo block of Harding’s Zoe Hardin to make it a 12-8 Bulldog advantage and forced the Lady Bisons to use their final timeout.
Harding stormed back following the timeout with three straight points, forcing SWOSU to call for time with a 12-11 lead. Zak made sure the Lady Bisons would get no closer, getting a kill at 13-11 followed by another kill from Holt that made it 14-11 and pushed the Bulldogs to the brink of victory.
Following a kill from Harding, it was Zak who emphatically put the match away at 15-12 by recording her 10th kill of the night and 1,459th of her career.
“What a hard-fought win tonight, the one we’ve been looking for against a really good opponent,” SWOSU Head Coach Josh Collins said following the match.
“It just felt like a great night for us from the time we stepped on the floor and I think we proved that. Harding is a great team, but we put together a full team effort with great passing, setting and service and our hitters really got going. This is a great feeling and it gives us some momentum to keep feeding off of for tomorrow’s matches.”
Kelsi Schmidtberger claimed team-high honors with 14 kills, followed by Paige Holt with 13 and Jill Green with 12. Carly Zak needed her big fifth set to reach 10 kills for the 19th time this season, but she also was effective from the serve, where she recorded five aces to go along with two blocks (one solo, one assist). DeLayni Fine added seven kills, helping the Bulldogs to an advantage of 58-to-51 in the category.
Kayla Hebert had another great night directing the offense, finishing with 54 assists and moving into second place on the SWOSU career assists list with 1,741. She moved past Tiffany Shedrock, who recorded 1,731 assists for the Bulldogs in 2005-06.
Zak led the Bulldogs defense with 18 kills in her seventh double-double of the season, but Kaitlyn Dillon (13) and Lindsey McCauley (10) also reached double figures and helped the Dawgs to a 70-to-68 advantage in digs.
Harding outblocked SWOSU 10-to-7, with the Bulldogs getting three blocks apiece from Fine, Schmidtberger and Holt.
SWOSU (6-13, 4-4 GAC) evens their Great American Conference record, but they will put that record on the line against the current conference leader, Arkansas Tech, at 2:00 pm tomorrow afternoon at the Pioneer Cellular Event Center. Later in the day, the Bulldogs will host Lubbock Christian in a match set to begin at 6:00 pm.