Nov. 1, 2006

Box Score

SAN MARCOS - Lawrencia Brown equaled her career high for kills by knocking down 24 while scoring 27.5 points, as Texas State rallied past Sam Houston State 3-2 (30-16, 29-31, 26-30, 31-29, 15-12) Wednesday at Strahan Coliseum. The win marked a season sweep of the Bearkats, the first for a Bobcat squad since 2004.

The Bobcats (13-14, 9-4) kept pace in the SLC West race with the win, while Sam Houston State (10-14, 5-9) fell a full match back of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi with the loss. The Bearkats took a 2-1 lead into game four and led 29-28 with match point, but Emily Jones pounced on the final two kills of the game to force a decisive game five.

In the fifth game, the Bobcats used a 4-0 run to break a 9-9 tie, and the `Cats maintained the lead with an Amy Weigle kill to go up 14-10 and earn a chance at match point. After a pair of Bearkat points kept Sam Houston in the match, Brown finished things with a kill through the right side of the Bearkat defense to win the game 15-12 and the match 3-2.

Weigle finished the match with 18 kills, six of which came in game two, while Brown had seven of her 24 in game four, completing a double-double with 26 digs in the win. Kelly Fletcher finished the night with 16 kills, while Kacey Wimpy led the `Cats defensively with 27 digs. Weigle and Karry Griffin held the front line, posting seven blocks each at the net in Texas State's eighth-straight SLC win at Strahan Coliseum.

Anna Ferguson led five Bearkats in double figures with 15 kills, while Cynthia Yarotsky had a double-double with 13 kills and 27 digs.

Texas State opened game one on a 12-2 run, extending the lead to 17-4 on back-to-back SHSU attacking errors. Three-straight Bearkat errors put Texas State on top 27-15 as the game neared its close, and the combination of Brown and Erin Hickman finished the frame with consecutive kills for a 30-16 win and a 1-0 lead in the match.

The Bearkats fought back, coming from as many as four down to take game two 31-29, using two-straight points to break a 29-all tie and win 31-29. A Fletcher kill put Texas State up 20-17, but a 6-2 Sam Houston run made the score 23-22 and the Bearkats would trail only once more to even the match at 1-1.

Sam Houston would again erase an early Bobcat lead in game three, coming from two down at 12-10 to take a 15-14 lead on a Bobcat error at the net. After Sam Houston took a three-point lead at 22-19, Weigle posted a kill to cut the lead to 22-20, but Sam Houston went on a 6-1 spurt to go up 26-21, and despite a Bobcat rally that cut the lead to 27-25 late, SHSU got three of the final four points to go up 2-1 with a 30-26 win in the game.

The Bearkats earned a 13-10 lead in game four before having the advantage erased, as Texas State tied the game at 15-15 at its midway point. Sam Houston went up 20-17 on a Ferguson kill, which was answered by a 3-0 Bobcat run to tie the game at 20-20. Rhae Walderman put the Bearkats up 29-27, but Sam Houston State was unable to finish off Texas State on its home floor, surrendering four of the final five serves to the Bobcats in the game-four loss.

The win marked the 10th this season following a Bobcat win in game one, and Texas State is 4-0 against Sam Houston in San Marcos since winning 3-0 on its home floor in 2003. Additionally, the Bobcats improved to 11-6 all-time in matches played on Nov. 1.

Texas State will play its final home match of the season Saturday, taking on SLC front-runner Stephen F. Austin at 4 p.m. Saturday at Strahan Coliseum. After its Senior Day clash with the Ladyjacks, the Bobcats hit the road for a pair of SLC contests at Texas-San Antonio and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to finish the regular season.