SHSU volleyball team continues streak with ninth straight win
Published: Monday, October 22, 2012
Updated: Monday, October 22, 2012 22:10
The Sam Houston State Volleyball team secured their 9th consecutive victory against Texas A&M Corpus-Christi Thursday, allowing them to recapture second place in the Southland Conference standings.
The Bearkats won 25-18, 25-12, 30-32 and 29-27, contributing to their already notable win streak by taking 27 of their last 30 sets and upping their conference record to 9-2.
By tallying 25 kills and only six errors in the first two sets, Sam Houston capitalized on 17 Islander errors to steam roll to a 2-0 lead at intermission.
A&M Corpus Christi reached a tie score only five times total during the first two frames, whereas the final two sets featured 35 ties and 10 lead changes.
"We were really clicking on all cylinders in those first two sets, but we lost some momentum at the break," Coach Brenda Gray told gobearkats.com.
"We didn't play with enough urgency in the third set, but we came back to finish at the end. This was a great team effort."
A&M-Corpus Christi stole the momentum to lead off the third set, totaling 21 kills and taking a 20-14 lead. Sam Houston then rallied to level the set at 24-24 and persisted through five set points before the Islanders finally forced a fourth frame.
Both squads continued to battle in the fourth set, trading points back and forth with 20 ties and seven lead changes before the Bearkats came out on top. With the score even at 9-9, the Islanders scored to take a one-point lead, and the two teams fell into a routine of trading point for point until the score reached 16-16. Texas A&M – Corpus Christi led by as many as three at 23-20, but failed to force a deciding fifth set. The Islanders led 27-26 before the Bearkats scored the final three points for a 29-27 win and a 3-1 match final.
Deveney Wells-Gibson notched her second straight 20-kill performance with 23 kills. Kendall Cleveland and Kaylee Hawkins added 14 and 10 kills, respectively. The Islanders were led by Ivy Baresh with 15 kills and Brianna Brink with 12.
The Sam Houston front line combined for 13 blocks. Kim Black recorded eight and Hawkins added five.
Tayler Gray had 52 assists of Sam Houston's 60 kills and directed the defensive effort with 17 digs.
The Bearkats square off against Oral Roberts (10-12 overall, 6-5 SLC) at 7pm Thursday in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
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