Led by sophomore outside hitter Brooke White and junior middle blocker Shelby Genung, Sam Houston finished as runner-up in the 27th Bearkat Volleyball Invitational Saturday after winning three of their four matches.

UTSA won all four of its matches to take the tournament title. The Roadrunners defeated Sam Houston in a thrilling two-hour plus, five set battle by a score of 19-25 25-20 25-20 19-25 15-12 Saturday afternoon. The Bearkats bounced back to defeat third place Montana State 25-22 23-25 25-16 25-21 in the final match of the event.

“We played with a lot of energy the entire tournament,” Sam Houston head coach Brenda Gray Said. “The team was disappointed after losing such a close match to UTSA. But we have to learn from every situation. They bounced back to beat Montana State. Those two teams are from bigger conferences and we competed well with them. To lose to a team like UTSA by just three points and winning our other three matches – you can't complain about that.”

Sophomore Jordyn Vaughn, White and freshman Amanda Gooch all totaled double figure kills against the Bobcats. Vaughn collected 15 while White had 14 and Gooch 11. The Kats out-pointed Montana State 68-52.

Claire Kirkpatrick led the defense with 26 digs in the Montana State contest. Setter Michelle Griffith assisted on 50 of Sam Houston's 59 kills.

“Our two all-tournament players both had outstanding weekends,” Gray said. “Brooke was steady from start to finish. Shelby is doing a heck of job in the middle. Our team right now is better than it was all last year.”

After fighting from two sets to one down to force a fifth and deciding set, the Bearkats lost a heart-breaker to UTSA in Sam Houston's first match of the day. The loss ended a 16-match home winning streak at Johnson Coliseum that stretched back to October, 2013.

Three Bearkats totaled double figure kills in the two hour, 10 minute battle. Brooke White totaled 17, Jordyn Vaughn 16 and Sarah Sherman 12. Dajana Boskovic of UTSA led both teams with 26 kills.

The total kills in the match demonstrate how close the contest was with both teams scoring 75 points and the Roadrunners holding a narrow 62-61 edge in kills. There were 21 ties through out the five sets with eight lead changes.

Sam Houston jumped out to a quick 6-1 lead in the fourth only to see UTSA come back and tie the set nine times. At 15-15, a kill by freshman Madison Wallace started a 7-1 run that helped the Kats to even the contest at two sets apiece.

The Bearkats got off to another quick start in the fifth, winning the first four points. But the Roadrunners rallied to win nine of the next 12 points for a 9-7 lead. White's kill tied the set as 12-12 but UTSA took the next three points on a kill, a Kat error and a service ace.

Michelle Griffith assisted on 49 of Sam Houston's 61 kills. Brenna Homer and Claire Kilpatrick accounted for 20 and 16 digs, respectively.

In Saturday's other matches, Tulane defeated Prairie View A&M 25-13 25-14 25-11, Montana State blanked the Panthers 25-14 25-22 25-18 and UTSA shut out Tulane 25-16 25-14 25-19 in the contest that clinched the tournament title for the Roadrunners.

The Bearkat Volleyball Invitational All-Tournament squad:

Sydney Walker OH Prairie VIew
Natalie Passeck  OH  Montana State
Lisa Mordell   DS   Tulane
Shelby Genung   MB   Sam Houston
Brooke White   OH  Sam Houston
Dajana Boskovic   OH   UTSA
Jessica Waldrip   OH   UTSA
Kylie Schott   MB   UTSA  (Most Valuable Player)