HUNTSVILLE – The Sam Houston volleyball team closed out the regular season on a high note, cruising past Abilene Christian, 3-1, on Saturday morning at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum.
 
The Kats (10-2, 10-2 SLC) were at their offensive best, hitting a season-high .295, led by 24 kills from Ashley Lewis. The senior from Houston had just three misfires on 51 tries and added 13 digs and a pair of service aces to her total. She leads the SLC with 4.34 kills per set entering next week's Southland Tournament.
 
Sam Houston will enter the tournament as the No. 2 seed and will get a bye to the tournament semifinals where they will play at noon on Friday, April 5. The Kats' half of the bracket also includes Central Arkansas, Abilene Christian and Southeastern Louisiana.
 
Breanne Chausse and Catherine Krieger each added 11 kills and hit better than .290 while Morgan Janda dished out 28 assists with eight digs.
 
The Kats held a distinct advantage at the service line, scoring eight aces, but it was a 15-4 edge in blocks that proved to be the difference in the match. Four Bearkats finished with at least five blocks, led by six each from McKenzie Morvant and De'Janae Gilmore.
 
The match also served as Senior Day for seniors Samantha Boatman and Madilyn Miles. Boatman saw significant time at setter during the match, setting a new career high with 17 assists along with seven digs.
 
Sam Houston had no issues in either of the first two sets, but dug itself a 4-point hole late in Set 3 that the Kats could not quite come back from; however, the Kats made up for it in the fourth set with a dominant 25-8 win to close out the match.