Box Score

HUNTSVILLE – The Sam Houston State Bearkats withstood a tough match from an energized Southeastern Louisiana squad to win its sixth match in a row, 3-1 (25-19, 21-25, 25-21, 16-25) on Thursday night at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum.

Taylor Cunningham delivered a match-high 17 kills and five blocks against a SLU (2-19, 1-8 SLC) team looking for just its second win of conference play. Jaclyn Ward finished with a double-double, totaling 42 assists and 12 digs and directing the Bearkat offense to a .231 attack percentage as a team.

Breanne Chausse also reached double figures with 12 kills, helping the Kats (16-5, 8-1 SLC) overcome a rough second set that saw the Lions hit .308. SLU outside hitter Jodi Edo finished with a team-best 15 kills, but just five in the final two sets.

The Kats entered the night as one of top team in the nation in digs per set and won that battle once again, led by Madison Wallace's 17 digs and four aces. Addison Miller also finished with 10 digs.

Four kills from Chausse in the opening set helped the Kats jump out to a 1-0 lead, hitting .323, but struggled throughout Set 2. The Lions hit .308 and held the Kats to just .179, never trailing in the set despite the lead being cut down to just two at 18-16 before SLU was able to get the final two points to even things up.

The third set was close midway through, but a pair of service errors eventually gave Sam Houston a late edge and eventually got consecutive scores from Elise Smith to go up 2-1. The Kats then emphatically closed things out in the final set, following Wallace's serve to a 12-3 early lead on their way to a convincing nine-point win.

NEXT UP
Sam Houston will look to put a bow on a second straight 3-0 week on Saturday when it hosts Northwestern State at 1:00 p.m. at Johnson Coliseum.