Sam Houston State 3, UTSA 2
HUNTSVILLE, Texas - Kim Black posted 14 kills and three other Bearkats produced double figure kills as Sam Houston rallied for a five-set victory over UTSA to stretch their winning streak to 10 Thursday night at Johnson Coliseum.

Sam Houston State won 17-25, 25-17, 25-21, 26-28, 15-13 to up their season mark to 18-10 and continue to rank in first place in the Southland Conference West Division with a 10-1 league record.

Carli Kolbe, Anna Ferguson and Camille Alfaro each totaled 13 kills for Sam Houston. Whitney Walls led UTSA with 20 kills.

With the match even at two sets apiece, the Roadrunners jumped out to a 9-4 lead in the fifth. But Sam Houston won seven of the next nine points to tie the set at 11-all. The two teams traded points and, at 13-13, Michelle Miller served an ace and UTSA was called for a ball handling error on match point.

The 10-match winning streak is the longest for Sam Houston since the Bearkats won 14 in a row in 1993.

UTSA fell to 9-15 for the year and 4-5 in Southland Conference play.

Sam Houston totaled 83 winners in the match with 54 kills, eight service aces and 21 blocks. Black and Ferguson both had a hand in eight of the blocks while Kolbe had seven block assists.

UTSA totaled 80 winners with 67 kills, four aces and nine blocks.

With the victory Sam Houston clinches its berth in the Southland Conference post-season tournament to be held at UTSA Nov. 20-22.

Sam Houston State will play its final home match on Saturday at 2 p.m. when the Bearkats play host to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.


Texas State 3, Stephen F. Austin 0
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Jillian Wolpman and the Texas State volleyball team proved to be too much for Stephen F. Austin, as they ousted the Ladyjacks in a 3-0 (27-25, 25-21, 25-19) sweep at Johnson Coliseum tonight. Texas State improves to 13-12, 7-3 in Southland action.

Shelbi Irvin notches a double-double with 15 assists and 12 digs, while Jessica Weynand finishes with eight kills and 10 digs.

The Bobcats took the Ladyjacks to extra points, ousting SFA 27-25 to go up 1-0 to begin the match. Things were quite close for both teams for the majority of the set. SFA's Mary Caitlin Bottles was able to tie the set at 25-All, but Texas State was not willing to give up. The Bobcats got quick points from Jillian Wolpman and Mo Middleton to close out the set.

Texas State started the second down 1-0, but a solo block by Amber Calhoun carried the momentum to the maroon and gold side of the net as the Bobcats once again took advantage of Ladyjack miscues. Texas State went on a four-point run at the 6-4 mark after a kill by Calhoun, an SFA attack error and back-to-back kills by AJ Watlington. Mo Middleton added two kills to the Bobcats score to boost Texas State to a 24-21 edge, before striking the final point of the set off a service ace.

Melinda Cave started the Bobcats off by scoring first in the third set. Weynand and Wolpman went on a roll as the outside hitter and middle blocker joined for three kills and a block assist, giving Texas State a 6-2 lead, forcing SFA to call a timeout to slow things down. SFA came to within four at the 23-19 mark, but it was too late as Texas State came away with a 25-19 win and the sweep.

Texas State outhit Stephen F. Austin .246 to .159, collecting 44 kills to the Ladyjacks 35. The Bobcats recorded nine service aces to SFA's one.

The Ladyjacks drop their record to 17-11, 6-4 in the Southland. Arielle Daron led SFA with 14 kills on .522 hitting.

The Bobcats continue their road stay as they travel to Lake Charles, La. on Saturday, Oct. 31 to play McNeese State at 3:00pm.