Nov. 9, 2006

Box Score

SAN ANTONIO - Kelly Fletcher posted her second-straight double-double and also produced her second-consecutive outing above 20 kills with a career-best 29, but Texas State could not hang on in a pivotal game five, falling 3-2 (20-30, 30-24, 26-30, 31-29, 15-17) Thursday at Texas-San Antonio.

Texas State (13-16, 9-6 SLC) dropped to a game behind the Roadrunners (18-12, 10-5) in the SLC West standings, as the Roadrunners were paced in the match by 19 Connie Picard kills and 42 digs from Erin McMillan. Megan Daniel also had 20 digs in the match for UTSA. The Roadrunners ended the match with four players in double-figures.

Christina Melvin led five Bobcats in double figures with 19 digs, while Erin Hickman posted the team's only other double-double with 57 assists and 18 digs. Fletcher capped her double-double with 11 digs in the five-game loss.

UTSA used an 8-2 mid-game run to go up 18-10 in the opening frame, and a Bobcat error extended the Roadrunner lead to double-digits late at 25-15, forcing a Texas State time out.

Picard put the Roadrunners four points away from an opening-game win with a kill to make the score 26-15, and despite Texas State outscoring UTSA 5-4 over the final nine serves, Victoria Prior put down game point from the right side of the floor to win 30-20, earning a 1-0 match lead.

Texas State maintained a two-point advantage through the middle of game two, taking a 15-13 lead on a Fletcher kill from the floor's left side. Back-to-back Roadrunner points tied the game at 15-all, but Fletcher answered with a pair of kills to put the Bobcats on top 17-15 two serves later.

Fletcher again came up big three plays later, putting down a kill that made the score 19-16, and the Bobcat lead was extended to four on a Karry Griffin point that made the score 22-18.

Back-to-back Roadrunner errors tacked on two more points to make the score 24-18, and five serves after a UTSA time out, a Griffin spike forced another Roadrunner miscue that put Texas State up 27-20. Lawrencia Brown made the score 28-21 with a kill two plays later, and Fletcher put the `Cats a point away with a kill to extend the lead to 29-22.

UTSA would cut the lead to four with a kill that made the score 29-25, but Fletcher finished the game and tied the match at 1-1 with her 14th kill of the contest to win the game 30-25.

Griffin earned a kill in game three to put Texas State ahead 7-5 in the game's early stages, and after UTSA fired back to tie the game at 8-8, an errant Roadrunner attack gave a 9-8 lead back to the Bobcats. Christina Melvin stuffed UTSA's Shannon Walker at the net to earn a kill that put the Bobcats on top 12-10 five plays later, but UTSA countered with four-consecutive scores to take a 14-12 lead halfway through the game.

Back-to-back Texas State points tied the game at 14-14, and a Roadrunner setting error gave the lead back to Texas State at 15-14. Another UTSA setting miscue gave Texas State its 20th point and a late two-point lead, but UTSA climbed back with a DeeDee kill to take a one-point lead at 26-25.

Brittaney Hildebrand ran the lead to three on back-to-back kills at 28-25, and the Roadrunners finished the game-ending 6-1 run on an errant Bobcat serve that handed UTSA a 2-1 lead in the match with a 30-25 victory. UTSA broke a 6-all tie with a 4-2 run in game four to go up 10-8, and after Texas State fought back to tie the game at 10-10 with back-to-back points, Daniel put the Roadrunners up by two with a kill from Strickland that made the score 15-13.

Another point put UTSA up 16-13 on the next serve, but Fletcher capped a 4-1 run over the next five plays that brought Texas State back, tying the game with a kill at 17-17. UTSA answered with a 4-1 run of its own to go up 21-18, and Prior put the Roadrunners on top by four with a late kill that made the score 24-20. The Bobcats scored on four of the next five serves to cut UTSA's lead to one, and the `Cats earned a tie on a UTSA error that made the score 26-26. Picard put UTSA up by two on the Roadrunners' second-straight kill to make the score 28-26, but Fletcher combined for points on the next two plays to knot the game at 28-all.

A Bobcat error gave UTSA a match-point chance at 29-28, but Fletcher again pounded a kill that deflected off of a UTSA defender to tie the game at 29-all, forcing extra points. The Bobcats went up 30-29 on a UTSA attacking miscue, and Fletcher combined with Weigle to force game five with a 31-29 game-four victory.

Fletcher opened with the fifth game's first kill, and after two UTSA points made the score 2-1, Fletcher again came up with a kill to tie the frame at 2-2. Griffin and Erin Hickman combined on a block to extend the lead to two at 5-3, and a UTSA attacking error forced a Roadrunner time out to put Texas State up 7-4.

The teams switched sides on a Jessica Weynand kill that kept Texas State's lead at three and on the first play after the switch, Hickman and Griffin again combined for a block that pushed Texas State's lead to four at 9-5. Hickman posted a quick kill to make the score 10-5, but UTSA would not go away, scoring the next three points to bring the count to 10-8.

A Picard kill followed a Bobcat time out and a long rally to cut the lead to one, and a second-straight Picard score split the game at 10-all with five points to play. UTSA grabbed the lead with Picard's third-straight kill at 11-10, and Fletcher stopped the run on the next serve with a left side kill that tied the game at 11-11.

Fletcher's second-straight point put Texas State ahead 12-11 after her attack was tipped by a Roadrunner defender, but the game would go to extra points on a missed Bobcat serve that tied the game at 14-all. Melvin grabbed a chance at match point with a kill to put Texas State up 15-14, but an errant Griffin attack again tied the score at 15-all in extra serves.

UTSA went ahead 16-15, on a second-straight Bobcat error, and the Runners finished the match with a Daniel kill that ended the game at 17-15.

Texas State continues its regular-season ending road swing Saturday, playing at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi with first serve slated for 4 p.m.