Box Score

ABILENE, Texas – Thanks to double-digit kills from Taylor Cunningham and Breanne Chausse, the Sam Houston State volleyball team (21-7, 13-3 SLC) closed out the regular season with a 3-1 victory at Abilene Christian, Saturday afternoon.

Cunningham and Madison Wallace both produced 21 digs while Addison Miller and Ashley Lewis recorded 14 and 13 digs, respectively. Sam Houston combined for 55 kills and hit .190 as a team while Abilene Christian hit just .120.

Cunningham delivered a kill for the opening point of the match and quickly led Sam Houston to a 4-2 lead to start the first set. After ACU tied up the set at 4-4, the Kats used kills from Jordan Kiley, Lauren Walker and Chausse to go up 10-7. The Wildcats tied up the set at 12-12 and used a 6-1 run to lead 18-13.

However, Sam Houston came roaring back and scored six unanswered points to reclaim the lead, 19-18. Three consecutive ACU errors gave the Bearkats the separation they needed and three straight kills – two from Chausse and one from Lewis – capped off a 25-20 win for the Bearkats in the opening set.

The Kats fell behind 6-2 early in the second set but chipped away tied the Wildcats at 7-7 thanks to kills from Cunningham and Amanda Gooch. Sam Houston took its first lead of the set on an ACU service error and kills from Cunningham and Chausse.

ACU tied up the set and the teams fought back and forth until a four-point Bearkat run gave Sam Houston a 20-17 advantage. A kill from Sheaff gave the Kats a 21-18 lead and Sam Houston used four Wildcat errors to win the second set 25-21.

The two squads were neck and neck to start the third set, but a 9-2 run by the Wildcats gave ACU an early 11-5 advantage. Sam Houston took advantage of three-consecutive attack errors and came within three points at 13-10, but ACU kept its distance and came out with a 25-17 victory in the third. Cunningham tallied five kills while Gooch recorded three.

Sam Houston turned the corner to start the fourth and jumped out to an early 5-1 lead thanks to services aces from Wallace and Lewis and a pair of Cunningham kills. However, ACU battled back and tied up the set seven separate times before taking a 20-17 lead.

However, Sam Houston rallied and scored five unanswered points to reclaim the lead. After an ACU attack error put the Kats up 23-21, back-to-back kills from Sheaff and Cunningham clinched the 25-21 set victory and gave the Kats the 3-1 match win.

Coming Up Next

Sam Houston is set to enter the 2018 Southland Conference Tournament as the No. 3 seed. The Kats will take on the No. 6 seed, McNeese, at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 16 in Natchitoches, La. Should the Kats win and advance to the semifinals, they would get the winner of No. 2 Central Arkansas and No. 7 Northwestern State.