STEPHENVILLE – The Sam Houston Bearkats found themselves one set away from a winless road trip, but rallied for a gutsy 3-2 win over Tarleton on Saturday afternoon at Wisdom Gym to clinch at least a share of the WAC Southwest Division title.
 
The Kats (16-8, 9-3 WAC) entered the day holding a 1-match lead in the Southwest Division, but ran into a Texan squad coming off a 5-set win over Stephen F. Austin on Thursday who carried that momentum into Saturday.
 
Tarleton took Sets 1 and 3 to get out in front 2-1, but the Kats hit .290 in Sets 4 and 5 to pull out their second win over the Texans this season. The win now sets up a showdown with rival SFA in one week in Nacogdoches where the Kats can clinch the outright Southwest Division title with a win.
 
Ashley Lewis turned in a big match with a team-best 23 kills to go with 14 digs and a pair of service aces. She was joined in double figures by Breanne Chausse who had 11, while Catherine Krieger had seven and De'Janae Gilmore had six.
 
Gilmore added four blocks to her ledger, while Hannah Baker racked up 24 digs and Morgan Janda had 35 assists.
 
First serve for Saturday's showdown at SFA is set for 3:00 p.m. at Shelton Gym and will be aired on ESPN+.