Nov. 18, 2006

Box Score

SAN ANTONIO - Lawrencia Brown had 16 kills and 22 digs while Kelly Fletcher had 12 kills and 10 defensive stops, but Texas State was unable to hang on Saturday in a 3-1 loss to Stephen F. Austin in the SLC Tournament Semifinals at the UTSA Convocation Center.

Texas State (15-17) ends its year without NCAA post-season consideration for the first time in three seasons, while SFA (29-3) advanced to the SLC title match Sunday against Texas-Arlington.

Amy Weigle also notched 12 kills in the match, while SFA was led by Traci Rhode's 16 kills and 29 digs from Stephanie Figgers.

Texas State rallied in game one to take a 18-12 lead, but Lauren Railey brought the Ladyjacks back, notching a kill to cut the lead to 23-21. Fletcher put Texas State back out in front with a kill at 26-22, but SFA finished the game on a 9-5 run, winning in extra points, 33-31.

Game two started close, as SFA erased a two-point lead with back-to-back points to tie things at 16-all. Rhode posted a kill to give SFA a four-point lead at 22-18, and after a Weigle kill brought the lead back to one, SFA scored five times in the final eight serves to win 30-25 and earn a 2-0 match lead.

Texas State fought back for a game three win, going up 17-10 on a kill by Weigle, and an SFA service error brought the `Cats within a point of winning at 29-20. Brown finished the game, closing out a kill at 30-22 to bring Texas State back to a game down at 2-1 in the match.

SFA would prove to be too much, however, winning game four 30-20 after opening a 15-8 lead with a 6-2 run midway through the final period. Railey posted a kill to put SFA up by 10 at 25-15, and the teams split the final 10 serves as SFA won the match on a Rhode kill that eliminated the Bobcats with a 30-20 game-four win.

Texas State closes its season with a final mark of 15-17, and head coach Karen Chisum finishes her 27th season at the helm of the program with 631 career victories.