HOUSTON, Texas – Brooke White delivered 13 kills, but Houston Baptist hit .260 as a team and picked up a 3-0 (25-17, 25-22, 25-22) win over Sam Houston State on Thursday night at Sharp Gym.

The Bearkats (11-12, 5-5 SLC) held late leads in both the second and third sets, but the Huskies (17-10, 8-3 SLC) had the answer each time, led by a dozen kills from Bailey Banks.

SET 1
The Huskies hit .378 in the opening set behind six kills from Ashlee Vann, holding the Kats to just .054 from the floor to take a 1-0 lead in the match. Jordyn Vaughn and Amanda Gooch each had two kills in the set, while HBU sported three players with at least four. Sam Houston trailed by five early on, but went on a quick 4-1 spurt to get back to within 12-10; however, HBU responded with four straight points and did not let the Kats back within five, scoring four of the final six points in the set.

SET 2
Brooke White delivered five kills and Taylor Cunningham had a hand in five blocks, but the Huskies went on a 4-0 run to close out the set, 25-22, after the Kats had taken a late 22-21 lead on a block from Cunningham and Sarah Sherman. The Sam defense held HBU to just .114 in the second stanza, but the Kats were able to hit just .075 themselves.

SET 3
Sam outkilled the Huskies 16-14 in the final set, but did not pick up a block as HBU hit .316 in frame. White picked up seven of her match-high 13 kills in the set, helping the Kats hold a lead as late as 18-17; however, the Huskies went on a 7-2 run to retake the lead and did not surrender it.

PLAYERS OF THE MATCH
White led all players with 13 kills, hitting .312 for the match with just three errors on 32 swings. Jordyn Vaughn added 10, while sophomore setter Jaclyn Ward dished out 19 assists and had 10 digs to pick up a double-double. Taylor Cunningham led all Bearkats with seven blocks, including a solo block.

KEY STAT
HBU hit over .300 in two of three sets on the night, holding Sam Houston to less than .100 hitting twice. The Kats led in blocks after two sets, but was held without a point at the net in the third while the Huskies picked up three to edge the Sam 10.0-8.0 in blocks.

UP NEXT
Sam Houston will stay on the road, looking to rebound on Saturday when they take on Lamar in Beaumont. First serve set for 1 p.m. at McDonald Gym.