Nov. 5, 2005

Final Stats

SAN MARCOS - Texas State (14-11, 12-4 SLC) took Stephen F. Austin (24-2, 16-0 SLC) to five games and had a shot at match point, but a reversed call and two straight SFA points earned the Ladyjacks a 3-2 win and kept their hopes of an undefeated SLC season alive.

The call in question came at the 13-10 point in the fifth game, when an errant serve was called out giving Texas State a 14-10 lead. After an officials' conversation at center court, the point was reversed and put on the board for the Ladyjacks. The Bobcats were cited for coming out of rotation, a call that is normally made prior to the ball being served.

SFA rallied for the next two points to tie the game at 13-13 and took the lead with a kill at 14-13. Texas State would tie the game three more times before taking a 17-16 lead, but SFA rallied for two more ties and with the score knotted at 18-18, the Ladyjacks posted consecutive points for the 20-18 game five win.

The first game of the match went to SFA 30-24. Texas State jumped out on top early with the first two points of the game, but SFA got the next two scores to force a 2-2 tie. Stephen F. Austin took its first lead at 3-2, and after Texas State fought back to a 10-10 tie, SFA went on a 6-1 run to open a 16-10 lead.

Texas State fired back to get within two at 22-20, but SFA outscored the Bobcats 8-4 to clinch the game one win and go up 1-0 in the match.

The Bobcats opened game two down 1-0, and SFA continued the hot streak to a 5-2 advantage. From that point, Texas State went on a 9-2 run to lead 11-7, but an 8-3 Ladyjack run put SFA on top 15-14. Texas State tied the game at 15-15 with a Karry Griffin kill, and the score would tie once more at 16-16 before Texas State took the lead for good at 17-16.

A second straight Bobcat point, scored on an SFA error, put Texas State up 18-16, and the `Cats hopped out to a 26-22 lead by way of an 8-6 spurt. Texas State finished the game with a three-point, 30-27, win on an Elizabeth Nwoke kill to even the match at 1-1.

The `Cats put SFA in an unfamiliar situation following game three, winning the game 30-26 to go up 2-1 in the match. SFA jumped out to a 7-3 lead in the game, but the Bobcats struck back going on a 4-0 run to tie the game at 7-7. Texas State grabbed its first lead of the game at 10-9, but had it taken away two points later when SFA regained the advantage 11-10. The game would stay within one point and tie six more times before Texas State got a point on a Ladyjack error to go up 18-16.

For the second straight game, Texas State held on to a slim advantage, playing most of game three's remainder with a two-point lead. SFA got within one at 25-24, but Texas State slammed home the next three points to take a 28-24 lead, and the Bobcats held on for the four-point win that made the match score 2-1.

Game four went the way of the Ladyjacks and forced the decisive fifth game, as SFA grabbed a 30-28 win in a game that saw five ties and three lead changes. SFA jumped out to an early 6-1 advantage and extended it to 12-7 nearing the midway point. Texas State rallied to get within three at 15-12, and a 7-5 Bobcat run put Texas State within one at 20-19.

Texas State took its first lead at 22-21, but after grabbing another lead at 27-26, SFA out-did the `Cats 4-1 to snatch the two-point win and even the match at 2-2.

The Bobcats opened game five on a 5-1 run, but SFA slimmed the lead to 6-5 with a 4-1 spark. Texas State held the lead until the 13-13 tie, and the `Jacks went on to outscore the Bobcats 7-5 to win the match 3-2.

Amy Ramirez led the Bobcat defense with a career-high 33 digs, and Lawrencia Brown posted a team-best 19 digs in the loss. Five Bobcats saw double figures in kills, as Nwoke (18), Brittany Prewit (16), Brandy St. Francis (13) and Griffin (10) joined Brown in helping the Bobcats to 86 kills as a team.

Erin Hickman had a career-high 77 assists, which was seven shy of the all-time mark set by Krystal Kolkhorst, and Griffin led the Bobcats up front with five blocks on the night.

SFA's Lauren Railey paced the Ladyjack offense with 23 kills, and Stephanie Figgers posted 34 digs in the win.

Texas State is back in action Tuesday, when the Bobcats host Houston on Senior Night at Strahan Coliseum. First serve for the match with the Cougars is slated for 7 p.m.