HOUSTON – The Sam Houston State volleyball swept a pair of matches on Saturday afternoon at the Rice Adidas Invitational at Rice University, finishing second in the four-team event.

The Kats opened the day with a five-set victory over the host Owls. The Kats won the opening set, but after dropping sets two and three, their backs were against the wall. They responded with a dominant performance in the fourth. They took the frame 25-14, hitting 16 kills with just three errors.

In the deciding fifth, the Kats had just one hitting error to go with 10 kills to take the set 15-12.

Breanna Homer led the way for the Bearkats with 28 kills. Jordyn Vaughn added 21 kills and Taylor Cunningham was in double figures with 11.

In the match the Kats had six aces including two from Cunningham.

In the final match of the evening, the Kats once again battled to another 5-set victory, this time against Oakland. It was a dominant fifth set that was the story for the Bearkats. After losing the fourth, SHSU bounced back and won the fifth set 15-5.

Four Kats finished in double figures in the kills, with Brooke White leading the way with 13. Also toping double-digit kills were Cunningham (11), Amanda Gooch (10) and Vaughn (10).

Homer and Gooch were both named to the all-tournament team.