Nov. 11, 2005

Final Stats

SAN MARCOS - Elizabeth Nwoke notched 22 kills and Lawrencia Brown completed a double-double with 17 digs and 14 kills, but Texas State's bid for a road victory fell short Friday in a 3-2 loss at Lousiana-Monroe.

Louisiana-Monroe (15-14, 8-9 SLC) put Texas State (14-13, 12-5 SLC) down 2-0 in the match with wins of 32-30 and 30-25 in the first two games of the match, but the Bobcats fired back in games three and four with wins of 30-15 and 30-23.

Texas State jumped out to a 10-7 lead in game one, and led by as many as six at 23-17, but ULM raced back into the game with a 5-0 run that cut the lead to 23-22. After a pair of Texas State held off the Indians to a 28-25 lead, ULM went on a 6-2 tear to take the first game by two and go up 1-0 in the match.

Game two got underway with another big Texas State run, as the Bobcats jumped out to an early 10-6 lead that was quickly erased by a 7-3 Indian run to tie the game at 13-13. Three more ties would come and ULM was able to get its first lead at 17-16.

Neither team led by more than three until ULM broke a 22-22 tie with a 7-3 spurt that made the score 29-25. Texas State got one more point to make the count 29-26, but an Indian kill put the game away, securing the four-point win and the 2-0 lead in the match.

Texas State ripped ULM in game three, taking an early 6-1 advantage out of the intermission locker room. The Indians fought back to an 11-10 Bobcat lead, but a 7-2 Texas State run pushed the score to 18-12. Texas State finished the game on a 12-3 tear, taking game point on a UL-Monroe attack error to cut the Indians' match lead to 2-1.

Game four started with another big lead for Texas State out of the starting blocks, as the `Cats jumped out to a 7-3 advantage to start the last full game of the match. Louisiana-Monroe scratched back to a 9-9 tie, but a second Texas State run moved the Bobcat lead to 16-10 midway through the fourth game.

UL-Monroe put up one more charge in the game, getting to within one at 20-19, but Texas State outscored the Indians 10-4 to finish with the 30-23 game four win.

With the match tied at 2-2, Texas State scored the first four points of game five and held the lead to a 12-7 advantage past the midway point in the final game.

For the second consecutive five-game match, Texas State had match point slip away, as the `Cats were outscored 6-1 to end the match after gaining a 14-11 lead at match point.

Nwoke led four Bobcats in double-digits with her 22 kills, while Brown's 17 digs led the Bobcats and completed the five-game double-double. Erin Hickman assisted on 58 of the `Cats 80 kills, and Brandy St. Francis posted her second-best blocking effort of the season, coming up with nine stuffs for the Bobcat front line.

The loss could have dropped Texas State a spot in the SLC standings, but fourth-place Texas-San Antonio was also upset on Friday, dropping a 3-1 decision to Northwestern State. Second-place Sam Houston State was unable to capitalize on the opportunity, as the Bearkats were dropped by McNeese State Friday, keeping Texas State a half-game back of Sam Houston in the SLC race.

Stephen F. Austin was the only SLC top-four squad to win, as the Ladyjacks stayed perfect with a win over Lamar.

The Bobcats will look to get back on track Saturday in Natchitoches, La., in a 4 p.m. match with Northwestern State at NSU's Prather Coliseum.