Box Score

HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Sam Houston State snagged its first win over Stephen F. Austin (16-9, 9-3 SLC) since the 2013 season as the Bearkats took Tuesday's match at the Health and Kinesiology Center 3-1 (25-22, 22-25, 25-23, 25-18).

The Kats (13-12, 7-5 SLC) saw four hitters have 10-plus hits for the second straight match as sophomore outside hitter Taylor Cunningham led all hitters with 16. Senior setter Michelle Griffith had a double with 55 assists and led all diggers with 18 as junior outside hitter Jordyn Vaughn provided 13 kills and 13 digs.

SET 1
Sam Houston fired a .441 hitting percentage behind 20 kills to take the first set over SFA, 25-22. Junior outside hitter Sarah Sherman led the attack with seven kills as junior outside hitter Jordyn Vaughn provided an additional six. Senior setter Michelle Griffith ended the set with 18 assists as her Bearkat defense finished with ten digs.

SET 2
The Ladyjacks evened the match score in set two, winning it 25-22. Stephen F. Austin hit for .300 again as the Bearkats hit .182, although they added 18 kills. Senior libero Claire Kilpatrick led the team in digs with 10 followed by Griffith with seven.

SET 3
The Kats' defense held the Lady Jacks to a .149 hitting percentage behind 26 digs; Vaughn leading all diggers with nine. Griffith tacked on another 15 assists as junior Brooke White had a team-high in the set with five kills. Sophomore outside hitter Taylor Cunningham closed the set with her third kill of the set and 10th of the match.

SET 4
Cunningham led the Kats' attack with a .600 hitting percentage, ending the set once again, 25-18. After being tied 15-15, Sam Houston took off with the lead and ended the match on a 10-3 run Vaughn and Sherman each had three kills as Griffith dished out nine assists. The Bearkats limited Stephen F. Austin to a .167 hitting percentage.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH
Griffith tied for her second-best dig performance of the season with 18 and also tied for her second-best assist performance with 54. The senior captain from the Woodlands, Texas additionally tied her season-best in kills with four.

KEY STATS
Last meeting against Stephen F. Austin, the Bearkats didn't have Sherman. Gray made it a point to play Sherman early, and it proved key when Sherman finished the first set with a team-leading seven kills. She ended the match with a season-high 14 kills.

UP NEXT
Sam Houston will quickly turnaround and host Southeastern Louisiana on Thursday before its last home match Saturday to New Orleans. The Bearkats will conclude the regular season on the road next week, travelling to Central Arkansas on Nov. 10 then playing at Northwestern State on Nov. 12.

QUOTEABLES
Senior setter Michelle Griffith on the biggest difference since the last meeting against SFA…
“We were a different team at that point. We've grown so much in terms of not only offensively but defensively, really finding what clicks… the difference between that match and this one was the work that we put in.”

Sophomore outside hitter Taylor Cunningham on the energy displayed…
“I feel like from the beginning we started off with a lot of energy, which helped a lot, and it carried throughout the game. We didn't really lull or go down or roller coaster, it was just always high energy and I think it helped us win the game.”

Head coach Brenda Gray on overall thoughts on the match…
“Sarah Sherman on the right side started us off very quickly offensively. I think our serving kept them totally off balance. We tried to help Michelle running different patterns with which markers were up and which team… I thought it was a big team effort. I think we had some great numbers offensively.”

Gray on team-performance…
“We played very well at Lamar the other day. We had a little heart-to-heart… we understood after we played at HBU that it was unacceptable. We're so much better than what we've been doing… The team energy has been hot. We've also taken some staff work out of our coaches' hands so they can be a little more engaged in the match.”

Gray on Sarah Sherman…
“Sarah started off us hot. The last time we played SFA we didn't have Sarah… She's had some huge matches. She's quick and I couldn't be happier.”