The 2004 SLC Co-Champion Texas State volleyball team captured its first SLC Tournament title since the 1998 season with a 3-1 (30-18, 30-22, 19-30, 30-23) victory over intrastate rival Stephen F. Austin Sunday.
With the win the `Cats (27-5, 17-3 SLC) earned their third SLC Tournament title since joining the league in 1987 and will advance to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in school history.
"We brought our A-game today," said Texas State coach Karen Chisum, who picked up career-win 599. "The team did a great job of being disciplined and sticking with the game plan."
The Bobcats opened the match running on all cylinders as the offense had 20 kills on .386 hitting while the defense contained SFA to nine kills on .042 in a 30-18 win.
Outside hitters and all-tournament selections Stephanie Torregrosa and Lizzy Nwoke led the Bobcat charge with five kills each while senior setter and Tournament MVP Krystal Kolkhorst added 2 kills, 10 assists and a game-high eight digs.
Kolkhorst finished the match with 47 assists and 17 digs giving her two double-doubles in as many matches.
In the second frame (30-22), the `Cats used a 4-0 run highlighted by two assisted blocks from middle blockers Brandy St. Francis and Karry Griffin to build a six point lead (23-17) and give Texas State a 2-0 match lead.
The `Cat defense continued to frustrate the Ladyjacks, who hit .000 for the game with 12 attacking errors while Texas State corralled 21 digs.
The Ladyjacks however bounced back following the intermission behind five kills from Brittany Burton and a team hitting percentage of .367 as SFA won 30-19.
Texas State struggled in the third game committing four service errors while hitting .024 with 11 attacking errors.
But the Bobcats would not be denied in the fourth and final game as Texas State finished on a late 5-0 run, punctuated by senior Kristy Jones' ace and Nwoke's match winning kill.
For the match, the Bobcats collected 63 kills on .196 hitting compared to 50 kills on .106.
Nwoke led three players in double figures with 17 kills while Jones finished with a match-high 26 digs.
Senior middle blocker Kacee Rogers recorded 14 kills and two aces and Torregrosa added 11 kills and 16 digs.
For the Ladyjacks, Brittany Burton with 13 kills and Stephanie Figgers had 25 digs.
SFA, which entered Sunday's finals the winners of its last 18 matches, finished the season 26-6.
Texas State will now await its placement in next month's NCAA Tournament. The NCAA field will be announced next Sunday, Nov. 28.
