Aug. 31, 2007

Final Stats

DENTON - Lawrencia Brown had 17 kills and 11 digs, and Emily Jones tied a career high of 14 kills she had first set earlier in the day as Texas State entered the win column for the first time this season with a 3-1 win (30-25, 25-30, 30-16, 30-27) over North Texas.

The `Cats (1-2) avenged last year's loss to North Texas (0-5) while also pulling even in first day action of the Mean Green Volleyball Classic. Texas State's weekend concludes on Saturday with an 11 a.m. match against UMKC.

Game one began with UNT holding an early 10-6 advantage, but the `Cats quickly rallied and took control 19-13 as the Mean Green couldn't break Brown's serve. The teams traded points until UNT made a late push to cut it to a 26-24 Bobcat lead, but Texas State shut the door with a 30-25 win.

UNT would make up for it in game two, building a 20-12 lead and never letting the Bobcats within two points in winning game two 30-25, Brown and Jones each recorded five kills in game two, but it wasn't enough to avoid the split at the break.

Anxious to avoid falling behind in game three, Texas State opened game three on a 12-3 run, as UNT would get no closer than 14-9 during the game. The Bobcat defense held the Mean Green to a -.036 hitting percentage, recording four blocks while allowing only six UNT kills in coasting to the 30-16 win.

Up 2-1, the Bobcats opened game four with a 10-6 lead, but UNT quickly rallied with a 13-5 run to grab a 19-15 advantage. With the score tied at 20-20, the teams traded points until it was 26-26. Brown then took over, reeling off three straight kills to give the Bobcats match point at 29-27, and Jones finished things off with her 14th kill on the next point.

Jones also recorded 14 kills earlier in the day against Georgia State, surpassing her previous career best of 12 kills that was set in 2005. Amy Weigle added nine kills for Texas State while Shelbi Irvin recorded her second straight double-double, tallying 36 assists and 14 digs. As a team the Bobcats out-hit UNT .188-to-.084 while also recording 16.5 blocks.

Brooke Engel led the Mean Green with 15 kills while Heather Maddox had 43 assists and eight digs.