Just one point away from forcing a fourth set, Sam Houston saw its dreams of a spot in the Southland Conference Volleyball Tournament finals finally end with three consecutive Huskies points as Houston Baptist defeated the Kats 25-18 25-19 26-24 Saturday afternoon.

The Bearkats earned their fifth semifinal appearance in the Southland post-season event since winning the tournament in 1996 in Nacogdoches with a three-set upset of No. 2 seed and host Central Arkansas Friday night. But, with less than a 17-hour turn-around between matches, the Sam Houston squad didn't have the spark they displayed in the victory over the Bears.

“Houston Baptist was the aggressor today, just like we were the aggressor against UCA last night,” Sam Houston head coach Brenda Gray said. “Volleyball is an odd game. Houston Baptist was the better team today. They backed us up and mixed up their offense. When they're blockers are going well, they are tough to beat.”

No. 1 seed and undefeated regular season champion Texas A&M-Corpus Christi knocked off No. 4 seed McNeese State in three sets in the other semifinal to advance to Sunday's 3 p.m. Southland Conference championship final which will decide the league's NCAA tournament representative.

Jordyn Vaughn led the Kats for the second straight match with 13 kills in 36 attempts. Brooke White added seven kills in 31 attempts. Michelle Griffith assisted on 25 of Sam Houston's 29 kills while Claire Kilpatrick led the defense with 12 digs.

Houston Baptist totaled 36 kills. The Huskies committed only 16 attack errors while Sam Houston had 29 miscues.

With the opening set tied at 9-9, Houston Baptist posted a 4-1 run to earn a lead they never surrendered. The Kats cut the margin to one, 13-12 on an ace by Kilpatrick but the Huskies closed the door with a 12-7 run to close out the frame.

The story in the second set was much the same with Houston Baptist grabbing an early lead and Sam Houston staying close but unable to hurdle the Huskies. The set was tied seven times, the last at 9-9 when HBU started a 4-1 run to go up by three 12-9 on an error. HBU won six of the last nine points to go into the break up two sets to none.

Sam Houston took an early lead in the final set. The Huskies rallied and were up 20-17 late in the third. Suddenly the Kats  caught fire and had a set point at 24-23. Two kills by the Huskies and a Kat error ended the match.

“This tournament was a lot like our season – a lot of ups and downs,” Gray said. “It was exciting to win yesterday and reach the semifinals. But we didn't get it done today.”