NACOGDOCHES ? Led by freshman Carli Kolbe and senior Haley Thomas, Sam Houston State took the first set but Stephen F. Austin came back to win the next three for a Southland Conference volleyball victory Wednesday night.

The Lumberjacks defeated Sam Houston 23-25 25-17 25-20 25-23 to raise their season record to 16-4. The Jacks stands 7-1 in league play.

Kolbe totaled 15 kills while Thomas added 13. Anna Ferguson produced eight kills as Sam Houston made only 11 hitting errors in the match.

SFA had five players with at double figure kills, led by Ashley Bailey who had Ashley a career-best 18 .

 Sam Houston hit at a .378 clip in the first set, but the Ladyjacks hit at least .250 in the first three sets on their way to a .253 night as a team in picking up the hard-fought win.

SFA led in set one as late as 19-18 before the Kats followed kills from Kolbe and Thomas to the two-point win.

It the second set the Jacks stormed out to a 6-0 lead behind three straight service aces by Lauren Riley who would finish with a career-best six aces on the night.

In the final set, the two teams fought a see-saw battle with neither team holding more than a two-point advantage until SFA took a 21-18 lead late in the set. The Bearkats pulled within a point at 23-22.