HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Sam Houston State volleyball went to its third-straight five-set on Thursday, outlasting Northwestern State, 3-2 (12-25, 25-20, 25-23, 24-26, 15-10) Thursday at the Health and Kinesiology Center.
Sophomore outside hitter Taylor Cunnigham hit a season-best 18 kills in the win over the Demons (11-14, 6-4 SLC), closing the game with a .371 attacking percentage. Senior outside hitter Breanna Homer led the defensive charge for the Bearkats with 17 digs.
Sam Houston (10-11, 4-4 SLC) stays at home on Saturday to host Central Arkansas at 2 p.m. from the Health & Kinesiology Center (HKC). Admission is free to all fans.
Set 1
Sam Houston struggled early in the first set, trailing 8-2 heading into its first timeout. The Bearkats reached within three points, 9-6, following a kill from junior outside hitter Jordyn Vaughn, but they couldn't hold off a firing Northwestern State squad who finished the set with a .588 attacking percentage. The Demons' Madeline Drake led all hitters with five kills to win the set 25-13 while the Kats' Vaughn, sophomore outside hitter Taylor Cunningham and sophomore middle blocker Amanda Gooch had two kills each.
Set 2
The Bearkats were able to even things in set two after starting the set on an 11-4 run. Northwestern State tied things at 17 and took its first lead at 18-17 since winning the set's first point. Cunningham led the Kats with four kills in the set followed by Gooch and junior outside hitter Brooke White with three kills apiece. The Kats held the Demons to a .059 attacking percentage, winning the set 25-20.
Set 3
A tight third set that saw no team lead by more than three points at any time fell in Sam Houston's favor. The Bearkats took the one-set advantage behind a five-kill performance from Cunningham, who ended the set 25-23 with a kill down the middle. Senior outside hitter Breanna Homer led the defensive side of the Kats with five digs while senior defensive specialist Claire Kilpatrick and freshman libero Addison Miller both contributed four.
Set 4
It took extra points in the fourth set, but Northwestern State was able to close it 26-24 and send the teams into a winner-take-all frame. The Demons' Alexis Warren led all hitters with five kills on 15 total attacks paired with seven digs. Homer continued her strong defensive effort, adding another seven digs to her name in the set. White led the Kats' attack with four of the team's 12 kills in the set.
Set 5
The Bearkats jumped to a 6-1 lead in the decisive set and didn't look back. Backed by four Cunningham kills and three from Gooch, the Kats won the set 15-10 to take the contest against the Demons. Sam Houston armed a game-best .643 attacking percentage, putting away nine of the team's 14 attacks in the set. Vaughn ended the game with her lone kill of the set.
PLAYER OF THE MATCH
Taylor Cunningham broke her season-high with 18 kills after posting a previous-best (16) against Abilene Christian last Saturday. The outside hitter from Huntsville misfired only five times on 35 swings for a .371 attack percentage for the match, and had her hand on seven of the Kats' 10.5 blocks for the match.
QUOTABLES
Head coach Brenda Gray on the way the match opened
“I think we started slow. It took us about two weeks to get over that flu bug we caught and we really fought hard to play the five-setter at Abilene last week. It took all we could muster just to get back in the gym. I think once we got triggered up a little bit, we played better. We tried to make sure out blocking was good. They (Northwestern State) just little different than some other teams, so we wanted to hold our blocks a little bit longer.”
Gray on the team effort in the win
“We played a lot of players tonight. We had to figure out which group was going to get it done, and hats off to the team as a whole for everybody being ready. That was a great win against a team that is in third place in the league. I know we aren't where we need to be in the standings, but we have already played Corpus Christi twice and we've already played SFA and we have the toughest conference schedule in the league with having to play all of the top teams two times.”
Gray on going to five sets for the third straight match
“We talked about that between the fourth and fifth sets. We thought that we had an ace at the end of the fourth that would've given us a match-point try, but somehow they dug one and trickled over for a point. It turned the tide of that set. But going into the fifth I told the girls that we had just played two five-setters and came up on the poor end of it. This is our time to get one and we have earned it.”
