Newark, Del. -- Carli Kolbe totaled 11 kills and Kim Black came within one serve of tying a Sam Houston school record as the Bearkat volleyball team dispatched East Carolina in three sets to complete SHSU's play in the University of Delaware volleyball tournament Saturday.
Sam Houston took only one hour and two minutes to defeat ECU 25-10 25-11 25-15. Earlier in the day the Bearkats lost in four sets to Rutgers. Kolbe, who led Sam Houston in points each of the Kats' three contests in the tournament, was named to the all-tournament squad.
Up 4-3 in the first set, the Bearkats won 14 consecutive points on Black's serve. Only once before has a Sam Houston volleyball had a longer service streak. Amy Stavinoha won 15 consecutive points on her serve against Nicholls in 1995.
The streak put the Bearkats up 17-3 and Sam Houston continued the momentum throughout the match. Kaylee Hawkins strung together eight straight points on her serve in the third set.
Kelli Stewart added nine kills for Sam Houston. The victory upped the Bearkats' season record to 3-5. East Carolina drops to 0-6.
Earlier Saturday Kolbe, Hawkins and Stewart each totaled double figure kills to lead Sam Houston as the Bearkats fell in a tight match with Rutgers 19-25 31-29 25-22 25-23.
Kolbe totaled 16 kills while Hawkins and Stewart added 12 and 11, respectively. Each of the four sets were battles with match totals of 25 ties and 11 lead changes.
Sam Houston won the first set and had three set points in the second frame before Rutgers evened the match at one set all.
Alex Jones led Rutgets with 17 kills. Caitlin Saxton added 15.
Rutgers posted 65 kills in 143 attempts with only 22 errors during the match. Sam Houston was credited with 54 kills in 142 attempts with 24 errors.
Sam Houston returns home to Johnson Coliseum for a Tuesday non-conference match with Texas Southern at 7 p.m. at Johnson Coliseum.
Tickets for Sam Houston vollleyball are on sale online at www.gobearkats.com/tickets or at the Sam Houston athletic ticket office in the Ron Mafrige Field House at Bowers Stadium. Ticket office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The ticket office telephone number is (936) 294-1729.
