The Harding women’s tennis team defeated Southeastern Oklahoma 4-3 on Saturday in a matchup of unbeaten conference foes. The Lady Bisons (12-2, 5-0) now sit alone on top of the GAC standings as the only undefeated team in conference. Harding came into the match as the No. 6-ranked team in the Central Region while the Savage Storm (11-7, 3-1) were ranked No. 4.
Hana Folse and Allison Carpenter won 6-0 at No. 3 doubles to open the match before the Savage Storm won at No. 2. Rylie Cox Evans and Emily Carpenter secured the doubles point with a 7-6 win at No. 1, winning 11-9 in the tiebreaker.
Romane Britt won the first singles match of the day, improving her singles record to 13-0 on the season. The freshman has won her last 18 sets played. The Savage Storm got on the board with a three-set win at No. 2 before Cox Evans got her 10th win of the season, winning 6-2, 7-5 at No. 1.
Needing just one more singles win to clinch the match, the Lady Bisons fell at No. 4 before Allison Carpenter picked up her ninth straight win, improving to 9-0 on the season, with a 6-3, 7-5 win at No. 6. She has now won her last ten sets. The Savage Storm won the final match of the night at No. 5 to make the final score 4-3.
The Lady Bisons will finish their conference season next Thursday, April 15, when they host Arkansas Tech at the Elliott Tennis Center beginning at 2 p.m.