Nov. 18, 2005

Box Score

ARLINGTON - Karry Griffin posted 19 kills and ten digs to lead five Bobcats in double-digits, as Texas State knocked off McNeese State 3-1 (30-26, 28-30, 30-19, 30-22) in first-round action Friday at the Southland Conference volleyball tournament in Arlington.

Griffin was one of two Bobcats to card a double-double, as Brittany Prewit registered 15 kills and 13 digs in the first-round win. Texas State also got 14 kills each from Elizabeth Nwoke, Lawrencia Brown and Brandy St. Francis in the win.

Erin Hickman led Texas State in blocks with six, and the junior setter assisted on 66 of the `Cats 80 team kills in the match. Amy Ramirez led the defense, recording 23 digs to lead four double-digit Bobcats on the defensive end.

McNeese State opened the match on a 3-1 run, and after the `Cats got back within one at 3-2, McNeese knocked down two more points to go up 5-2.

Texas State rallied, getting within one at 7-6, and a Griffin kill followed to knot the game at 7-7. Brown enabled the `Cats to regain the lead at 8-7 with a kill, but an errant Bobcat serve followed the point to tie the game at 8-8.

The game remained close with two more ties, and McNeese State managed to go up by two with a kill at 13-11. Texas State used a 5-1 run to again tie the game at 14-14 and eventually capped the run with a 16-14 lead.

McNeese was able to hang around, scrapping to a 20-20 tie, and the Cowgirls capped a 4-0 run by taking a 22-20 lead. Texas State answered, cutting the lead to one and tying the game on a St. Francis kill, and from that point, Texas State outscored the Cowgirls 8-4 for the 30-26 win.

Game two was close from the start, with the teams playing to three ties before Texas State notched back-to-back points to take a 7-5 lead. An errant serve put McNeese back within one at 7-6, and the Cowgirls able to fight the Bobcats to a 9-9 tie.

A Cowgirl service error put Texas State up 10-9, and a second McNeese error gave the Bobcats a two-point lead at 11-9, but McNeese stopped the Bobcat run with a point at 11-10 for the one-point lead. The Cowgirls stayed pesky, cutting the lead to one on a pair of occasions before back-to-back Texas State points made the score 15-12.

From that point, Texas State went on a 3-1 run to open an 18-13 lead, forcing the Cowgirls to burn a time out. McNeese got two straight out of the break to get back within three, but Texas State stopped the spurt with two points that moved the score to 20-14.

Texas State was unable to put the game away, however, committing three straight errors that allowed McNeese to slip back to within three at 20-17.

Griffin followed a Bobcat time out with a kill to go up 21-17, but McNeese fired back with a kill that again cut the lead to three. The Cowgirls were able to dig further in to the Bobcat lead with two more points to make the score 22-21, and McNeese completed the comeback with a block that tied the game at 22-22.

The Cowgirls finished the game by outscoring the Bobcats 8-6 for the 30-28 comeback win that tied the match at 1-1.

Game three opened with a Cowgirl point, but the `Cats quickly tied with a Nwoke kill at 1-1. The Cowgirls posted the next two points to lead 3-1, and after the Bobcats again got back within a point, an errant serve put McNeese on top 4-2.

The Bobcats got the game's next two points to tie the game at 4-4, and the first Bobcat lead of the game came at 5-4 on a kill by St. Francis.

After regaining the lead, Texas State outscored the Cowgirls 12-4 to take a 17-11 lead, and the `Cats continued the run with six straight points after a McNeese time out to push the lead to 23-11.

The Cowgirls answered the run with four in a row to get back to within eight at 23-15, but the Bobcats finished on a 7-4 stretch to win game three 30-19.

Up 2-1 in the match, Texas State opened game four on a 5-1 run, and the Bobcats maintained the lead as the game neared the midway point at 12-7.

McNeese climbed back into the match with a 3-1 run that made the score 13-10, but Texas State answered with a 4-1 run that put the `Cats on top by six.

The Cowgirls called a time out at 17-11 and scored the first point out of the break, but the lead again went to six for the Bobcats, who owned a 25-19 lead nearing the game's end.

Texas State finished game four on a 5-3 run to win the match 3-1 with the 30-22 game-four win.

Texas State is back in action Saturday in the Southland Conference semifinals. The Bobcats will take on Stephen F. Austin at 7:30 p.m.