After dropping straight sets to open its match at UT Arlington, the Sam Houston State volleyball team rallied back, pushing the Mavericks to five before falling 3-2 (18-25, 22-25, 27-25, 25-18, 11-15) in the season opener on Friday night.

Trailing 2-0 overall and locked at 25-all in a must-win third set, the Bearkats (0-1) turned to Jordyn Vaughn, who recorded consecutive kills from Amanda Gooch to keep Sam Houston alive. Vaughn logged 22 on the night, three shy off a career high.

In the fourth set, Sam Houston did not wait long to get started, jumping out to a 5-1 advantage. After UTA (1-0) recorded six of the next seven points to even the match, Sam Houston showed its tenacity up front, highlighted by consecutive blocks to take a 14-9 lead.

In the frame, the Bearkats notched five blocks and notched 10 more kills than the Mavericks. Unlike the third set, which saw 14 ties and five lead changes, the squads were tied just twice, with the lasat coming at seven-all.

Sam Houston took a 3-1 lead in the winner-take-all fifth set but the squads battled back and forth, matching point for point to sit tied at 11-all on a UTA attack error; however, the Mavericks rallied off four straight for a 15-11 final-set victory in front of 788 fans.

Brooke White and Taylor Cunningham finished in double-digit kills with 16 and 10 respectively as Cunningham also notched six blocks. Michelle Griffith added 30 assists and 12 digs while Claire Kilpatrick tallied 22 digs for the Bearkats. Shelby Genung added nine kills followed by Amanda Gooch with seven.

The UTA Mavericks Classic continues on Saturday as Sam Houston takes on Sacramento State at 11 a.m. followed by Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 4:30 p.m.