MANHATTAN, Kan. – The Sam Houston Bearkats split a pair of matches on the opening day of the 2022 season, falling to Kansas State before taking down Florida A&M at the K-State Invitational.
The Kats will try to leave the Little Apple with a winning record on Saturday when they close out the tournament vs NC State. The match is scheduled for a 10:00 a.m. first serve and can be followed via live stats or by following @BearkatsVB on Twitter or Instagram.
Match 1
K-State 3, Sam Houston 0
Catherine Krieger had 11 kills on 22 tries in the Kats' season debut, but K-State was able to hold down the rest of the Bearkat offense in the tournament opener for both teams.
K-State was on fire offensively throughout the match, hitting. 357 as a team, and held the Kats to -.103 attacking in the opening set. Krieger almost single-handedly kept the Kats in it in Set 2 with 6 kills, but despite Sam Houston holding a 17-16 lead late in the set, the Wildcats were able to put together a late run to get to a 2-0 lead.
The home team then hit .429 in the final set to get in with the sweep.
Match 2
Sam Houston 3, Florida A&M 1
The Kats fought off a tough Florida A&M team to score its first win of the season in the nightcap of the tournament's first day.
Krieger led the Kats with 16 kills and freshman
Madison Dyer had a breakout match of her own, finishing with 15 kills on 28 swings (.321) with four blocks.
Freshman
Avery Fowler had a team-high 24 assists, while
Hannah Baker led the back row with 21 digs.
Madison Frusha also added four blocks.
Krieger carried over her morning into the second match of the day, landing eight kills in the opening set. The Kats needed each one of them despite taking a 21-11 lead on the strength of an 11-2 run early in the frame; however, FAMU responded with a run of their own to pull back within a point before the Kats were able to finish the Rattlers off.
The Rattlers responded with a win in Set 2, but the Kats had the answer one set later and did it with defense, holding FAMU to negative hitting for the first time in the match. Dyer had a pair of kills and a pair of aces in the set to join Krieger in double-figure kills.
The fourth set epitomized the match as Sam Houston had to keep the Rattlers at bay in the final stretch. A 4-1 run by FAMU late in the set tied things up at 22-22 before Haley Heider pushed the Kats back in front. FAMU's Dominique Washington, who finished with a match-high 22 kills, eventually tied it back up at 24-24, but a pair of service errors gave the Kats a match-point try an one play later they were able to force a Rattler miscue to secure the win.
