Oct. 7, 2005

Box Score

SAN MARCOS - Elizabeth Nwoke had a team-high 16 kills and Brandy St. Francis notched a double-double (15 kills, ten blocks) as the Bobcats beat Louisiana-Monroe 30-16, 30-23, 30-24 Friday night at Strahan Coliseum.

Texas State (7-7, 5-1 SLC) evened its overall record to .500 for the first time since Sept. 3 and kept pace in the SLC standings, while the loss put Louisiana-Monroe (6-9, 2-4 SLC) two matches back of the .500 mark in Southland Conference play.

Texas State opened game one with a St. Francis kill, and the Bobcats went up 2-0 on a shared block by St. Francis and Lawrencia Brown. UL-Monroe got on the board with a kill to make the score 2-1, but the `Cats answered with a kill by Erin Hickman that made the score 3-1.

Texas State would outscore the Indians 7-5 to make the score 10-6, and the Bobcats went on to extend the lead to 15-9 at the midway point of the opening game.

Texas State closed game one on a 15-7 run that gave the `Cats a 30-16 game-one win and a 1-0 lead in the match.

The Bobcats opened game two with consecutive points before ULM got on the board to cut the lead to 2-1. The two teams stayed neck-in-neck, but with the score at 6-5, Texas State went on a 6-1 run that made the score 12-6 and forced an Indian time out.

Texas State scored one more point out of the time out to make the score 13-7, but a 4-2 UL-Monroe run made the score 15-11 in favor of Texas State. The `Cats would go on a run of their own and extend the lead to 28-18, their biggest lead of the game.

The Indians scored two straight to cut the lead to 28-20, and after having its lead cut to 29-23, the Bobcats hammered home game point on a Nwoke kill that gave the `Cats a 30-23 win in game two.

Leading 2-0 in the match, Texas State opened game three with a 2-0 lead that was quickly answered with a pair of Indian points that tied the game at 2-2.

Texas State ran the lead to 10-6, and ULM answered, getting within three at 13-10. The Bobcats scored two straight to make the score 15-10, but the Indians went on a 9-2 run, making the score 19-17 and prompting a Texas State time out.

Out of the time out, the teams traded points making the score 20-18, and after further trading of points made the score 21-19, Texas State went on a 9-6 run that earned the `Cats a 30-24 game three win and their third straight SLC shut-out win.

The win was the fourth straight win overall and third straight win in the SLC for the Bobcats. Nwoke led the `Cats with 16 kills, while St. Francis scored a team-high 20.5 points on 15 kills and ten blocks.

Amy Ramirez had a team-high 11 digs for the Bobcats, and Brittany Prewit notched five service aces in the Texas State win. Erin Hickman again quarterbacked the `Cats from the setting position, assisting on 47 of the `Cats 57 kills.

UL-Monroe was led by Natkeshia Raibon with 14 kills and Sei Hee Hwang's 14 digs.

Texas State is back in action Saturday, when the Bobcats host Northwestern State. First serve between the Bobcats and Demons is slated for 4 p.m. at Strahan Coliseum.