Despite having four players with double figure kills, Sam Houston fell to McNeese State in five sets Saturday for the Bearkats' first Southland Conference volleyball loss of the season.

The Cowgirls rallied from two sets to none down to win 13-25 20-25 25-11 26-24 17-15. Malina Sanchez led McNeese with 19 kills.

Madison Wallace led Sam Houston with 19 kills and Brooke White added 18. Taylor Cunningham and Shelby Genung totaled 13 and 11 kills, respectively.

The Bearkats, now 9-9 for the year and 3-1 in league action, started strong, never trailing in the opening set and behind only twice in the second stanza. But McNeese roared back in the third, totaling 15 kills in 25 attempts without an error in the set.

The fourth stanza was a dog fight with seven ties and two lead changes. Sam Houston fought back from a 19-14 deficit to tie the set 23-23 and 24-24 on kills by Cunningham. But McNeese won the next two points to force a decisive fifth frame.

The Cowgirls never trailed in the fifth set although Sam Houston tied the frame five times. McNeese now stands 5-12 for the year and 2-2 in Southland action.

McNeese totaled 58 kills in 153 attempts with only 18 errors in all five sets. Sam Houston produced 68 kills in 188 attempts with 33 errors.