HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Three Bearkats finished with double-digit kills and the Sam Houston State volleyball team completed a perfect week with a 3-1 (32-30, 23-25, 25-23, 25-16) win over McNeese State on Sunday at the Health & Kinesiology Center.
Jordyn Vaughn led the way with 20 kills and 21 digs, while Taylor Cunningham added 16 kills in hitting .355 for the afternoon. In all, the Kats (8-9, 2-2 SLC) hit .201 for the match, getting 59 assists from setter Michelle Griffth and a team-best 25 digs from libero Addison Miller.
Sam Houston will now look to keep the momentum going when it heads to Incarnate Word and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi next week, beginning with a Thursday match in San Antonio against the Cardinals.
Set 1
The Kats held as much as a six-point lead in the opening frame, but had to go to extra points to build its initial 1-0 lead in the match. SHSU had to fight off a pair of set points after a 9-1 Cowgirl (4-15, 0-4 SLC) run surged them back into the set; however, it was not enough as Brooke White delivered the final two scores of the set to close it out. The Kats hit just .125 in Set 1, but got nine kills from Vaughn and held McNeese State to just .098 hitting.
Set 2
Both teams hit .176 in a tight second set, one that saw things tied as late as 22-22 before the Cowgirls got consecutive scores from Jenny D'Alessandro to break the deadlock and set up a set-point try. The Kats fought one off before the Cowgirls squared the match at 1-1 with the set's final point. Cunningham delivered six of her 16 kills for the match in the frame, with no misfires on eight attempts.
Set 3
The Kats outkilled the Cowgirls 17-12 in the rubber set behind five kills from Vaughn and another four from Sarah Sherman to take a 2-1 lead in the match. Sam Houston needed a 5-1 run to create some separation late in the set and took advantage of its third set-point try when Griffith found Cunningham for the set's final point, giving Griffith her 13th assist of the set.
Set 4
Sam Houston closed out the match in high gear, scoring 12 of the final 13 points of the match to finish things off. Vaughn served out three straight points before Miller toed the service line for the final seven points of the afternoon. The Kats put together their best hitting set of the day in Set 4, hitting .387 with 17 kills while holding McNeese State to just .031 from the floor.
PLAYER OF THE MATCH
Jordyn Vaughn turned in a stellar match, just missing a monster triple-double with 20 kills, 21 digs and eight blocks. The Bearkat outside hitter had nine of her kills in the opening set, taking 62 swings for the match.
KEY STAT
The Bearkats hit .201 for the match, but dominated in the kill category, finishing with 70 kills to just 45 for the match by the Cowgirls.
