Courtesy: Southland Conference
Box Score
CONWAY, Ark. – Brooke White went delivered a match-high 15 kills and Sam Houston State hit .277 for the match to advance to the semifinals of the Southland Conference Volleyball Tournament with a 3-1 (25-16, 20-25, 25-19, 25-15) over Northwestern State on Friday afternoon at the Farris Center.
The Bearkats (17-13), who entered the tournament as the No. 3 seed will next take on No. 2 Stephen F. Austin on Saturday for a berth in the finals. First serve is set for noon and will be aired on the Southland Conference Digital Network. Sam Houston and SFA split their two regular season matches this year, with each winning on its home court.
The win also completed a season sweep over the No. 6 seed Demons (12-20) with the Kats having already picked up two wins in the regular season, including a victory on the season's final day to clinch the third seed.
SET 1
Both sides traded blows in the opening points of the first set before the Bearkats edged out to a 7-4 lead, forcing an early Northwestern State timeout. The Demons could not overcome a 10-2 scoring run from Sam Houston State through the middle of the set. When NSU head coach Sean Kiracofe called his second timeout with the score 20-14, the Bearkats were hitting in impressive .350. Sam Houston State remained composed and closed out the first set 25-16. Although the Lady Demons held a 13-11 advantage on kills, the Bearkats held a healthy advantage on hitting percentage (.391 to .250). Northwestern State also hurt themselves, giving up five points on service errors and committing five attack errors. First Team All-Conference selection Brooke White led the Sam Houston State attack with four kills while sophomore Reagan Rogers notched seven for the Lady Demons.
SET 2
The Bearkats came out swinging in the second set, building a 7-3 lead before Kiracofe called another early timeout to slow the momentum. It did the trick, as the Demon defense stepped up and helped Northwestern State tie set two at 8-8 before Sam Houston State head coach Brenda Gray called a timeout of her own. The Demons had the best of the momentum after the Bearkat timeout, building an 18-14 lead before Gray had seen enough, calling her final timeout of the set. The momentum still stayed well on the Demon side of the court, as they emphatically pushed ahead to a 25-20 set three win on the heels of a .281 hitting percentage and 25 kills. Rogers led the way again, registering 11 kills and a .348 hitting percentage as the teams headed into intermission tied 1-1.
SET 3
The two sides went nearly point for point through the opening stages of set three, with the Bearkats edging out to a narrow 11-6 lead before Kiracofe called his first timeout. The Kats maintained a narrow lead but neither side would score more than two consecutive points until Kiracofe called his second timeout with the score 21-17 in favor of Sam Houston State. The back-and-forth scoring continued, but the early deficit came back to haunt the Demons, who dropped set three 25-19. The Bearkats would take a 2-1 lead into set four.
SET 4
Both teams posted almost identical hitting percentages, with Northwestern State holding a slight advantage over Sam Houston State (.260 to .250) and the Demons bested the Bearkats in kills (39-33). The errors were still piling up and preventing them from going on a substantial run – 12 services errors and 14 attack errors were committed after three sets. Northwestern State's defense kept them within striking distance with 12 block assists and six total team blocks.
The point trading continued until Sam Houston State finally found their offensive footing, going on a nine-point scoring run through the middle of the fourth set which the Demons had no answer for. Kiracofe attempted to salvage the fourth set with his team down 15-12, but following his timeout the Bearkats would keep their foot on the gas and cruise to a victory in the fourth set 25-15.
PLAYERS OF THE MATCH
White converted 15 of her 30 swings on the day into kills and added a pair of blocks, hitting .333 for the match. Fellow all-SLC choice Taylor Cunningham added 10 scores without an error on 20 swings along with a pair of blocks and seven digs.
Setter Michelle Griffith added another double-double to her senior year, doling out 36 assists with 10 digs, while libero Claire Kilpatrick led all players with 14 digs of her own. Breanna Homer just missed double-figure digs with nine, but picked up three of Sam Houston's eight service aces.
KEY STATS
Both teams churned out solid offensive performances, with Sam Houston State holding the advantage on hitting percentage (.277 to .211) and slight edge on kills (50-46). The Demons racked up 19 attack errors, 14 service errors and eight return errors which put a stopper in any attempt to make a run at the Bearkats.
Sam Houston was able to come away with the win despite being outblocked 10.5-3.0 in the match. They hit just .040 in dropping the second set, but hit a combined .333 in winning sets.
