Sophomore opposite hitter Sharon Tukuaoga had 17 kills and freshman outside hitter Courtney Bolf had 13 kills and 10 digs, but the Henderson State volleyball team fell to Harding in its Great American Conference opener on Tuesday 3-1.

Harding grabbed control of the match early after jumping out to a 19-12 lead in game one. The Reddies closed the gap to 24-22, but the Bisons got a kill from Emma Reeves and the Reddies dropped game one 25-22.

Henderson fell behind early again in the second game, but after trailing 6-1 went on a furious run to tie the game at 7-7. From that point it was neck and neck until the Bisons seized control at 24-21 needing only one point to win. The Reddies would battle back however, on a kill from Bolf and two Harding attack errors to knot the game at 24-24.  After the teams traded points, freshman outside hitter Kamra Jackson came through with a kill for Henderson and an attack error by the Bisons on the following play gave the Reddies a 27-25 win in game two.

The teams battled for momentum in game three and kept things close until at 20-18 the Bisons went on a 5-1 run to close out the third game and take a 2-1 lead in the match. Needing to win game four to survive, the Reddies jumped out to quick 6-3 lead behind three-straight services aces from Tukuaoga. Henderson defended that lead until the Bisons finally knotted things back up at 20-20 late in the game, then used a 4-1 run to push the Reddies to the brink. The Reddies ripped off a valiant 3-0 run to tie things up again at 24-24, but Harding won the next two points to take the fourth game and the match.

Freshman setter Sariah Boney had 46 assists and junior libero Sydney Skelton had 21 digs for Henderson in defeat.

The Reddies' next game is at 1 p.m. on Friday against the University of Central Missouri as a part of the Central Missouri Crossover Tournament in Warrensburg, Missouri.