Nov. 4, 2005

Box Score

SAN MARCOS - Lawrencia Brown led the squad in kills for the fourth straight match and Amy Ramirez recorded 28 digs, helping Texas State (14-10, 12-3 SLC) to a 3-1, come-from-behind win over Sam Houston State (14-10, 12-3 SLC) at Strahan Coliseum.

The win enabled the Bobcats to pull even with Sam Houston, leaving the two SLC rivals in a second-place tie in the Southland volleyball race.

Game one was dominated by Sam Houston State, highlighted by a 5-0 run that broke a 4-4 tie and put the Bearkats up 9-4. Sam Houston continued to roll up points, outscoring Texas State 10-5 to gain a 19-9 lead.

Texas State fought back, getting with in seven points at 28-21, but Sam Houston got the next two points to close game one with a 30-21 win and a 1-0 advantage in the match.

Game two would go to Texas State, with the Bobcats opening the second frame with a 3-1 lead. The Bearkats got within one at 4-3, but would not get any closer, as Texas State built a six-point advantage at 13-7.

The Bearkats made a run, getting within three at 15-12, but consecutive points put the Bobcats in front 17-12.

Texas State maintained the five-point advantage to a 25-20 score, and finished the Bearkats off with a 5-2 run that ended the game with a 30-22 Bobcat win and knotted the match at 1-1.

Elizabeth Nwoke notched six of her 11 kills in game two, and the Bobcats improved their hitting percentage from .109 in the first game to .289 in game two.

Game three was tightly contested, with Texas State jumping out to a 6-2 lead. Sam Houston countered taking its first lead at 11-10 by way of a 9-4 scoring spurt. The `Kats held the lead until making back-to-back errors that gave Texas State a 20-19 lead, but Sam Houston would fight back to tie the game at 20-20 with a kill.

Texas State got the next four points from the tie to lead 24-20, but another Bearkat run tied the game at 26-26. Texas State answered, scoring the next four points including game point to take the 30-26 win and gain a 2-1 advantage in the match.

The Bobcats notched their third consecutive game with a 30-25 win in game four. The game got started with points on both sides of the board, and after four lead changes and 11 ties had the score knotted at 11-11, Sam Houston got a pair of unanswered points to lead 13-11.

Texas State scored the next three points to grab a 14-13 lead, but four more ties would leave the score even at 17-17,

From the tie, Texas State went on a 3-0 run to lead 20-17, and after Sam Houston State scored two more to get within one at 20-19, the Bobcats went on a 7-3 run to put some distance on the board and lead 27-22.

The Bearkats got within four on a pair of occasions, but a Kelly Fletcher kill at match point secured the 3-1 Bobcat win.

Brown's 20 kills led three Bobcats in double-digits, with Brittany Prewit posting 15 and Nwoke checking in with 11. Ramirez's 28 digs marked her second-best career performance, while Erin Hickman's 57-assist performance was her fourth-best mark of the year from the setting position. Karry Griffin led Texas State up front posting three blocks in the match.

Texas State is back in action Saturday, when the Bobcats take on undefeated and first-place Stephen F. Austin, in a 7 p.m. match at Strahan Coliseum.