Stephen F. Austin
Sam Houston State
SFA Falls In SLC Tourney Opener
11/21/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 21, 2008
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Ladyjack volleyball team saw its season come to a close in front of its largest crowd of the season on Friday, falling in the first round of the Southland Conference Tournament to Sam Houston, 3-2 (25-21, 18-25, 17-25, 25-15, 18-16) in a battle that kept all 519 fans at Johnson Coliseum on the edge of their seats to the final point.
The loss will mark the first time since 2003 that at SLC Tournament championship match will not feature the Ladyjacks, and is the first time since 2000 that SFA has not made it out of the first round.
SFA (20-9, 11-5 SLC) led 2-1 heading into the fourth set before Sam Houston (15-18, 9-7 SLC) caught lightning in a bottle, hitting .519 in the set to send it to a decisive fifth set. The race to 15 looked to be all Bearkats after SHSU scored the first four points of the frame, but the Ladyjacks battled back and eventually had a pair of match-point opportunities of their own that they could not convert before freshman Carli Kolbe landed the final of her match-high 18 kills to send Sam Houston to the semifinals.
Freshman MC Bottles and senior Lauren Railey each showed why they were named All-Southland Conference first team selections earlier this week, with Bottles leading SFA with 17 kills on .500 hitting with four blocks to lead the offense. Railey was the go-to hitter late in the match, landing 14 kills with 20 digs for her eighth double-double in her last 11 matches.
Laurel Kuepker finished with 33 digs on the night, the third time this season she has had at least 30 while the setting tandem of Paloma Buckner and Whitney Schott doled out 59 assists on SFA's 63 kills.
The Bearkats held the lead the majority of the first set, withstanding a late SFA rally to go up 1-0 early before the Ladyjacks came roaring back in sets two and three. Kelsey Owens and Shelly Swendig combined for 11 kills in the second set before Bottles came alive in the third set, landing six of her kills each of her four blocks in the eight-point win.
But that was short-lived as the Bearkats committed only two errors in the fourth frame, getting seven kills from Haley Thomas to send it to the fifth set where Kolbe led the way for SHSU, including the final point.
Overall, Sam Houston won the battle at the net, rejecting 14 shots to just eight by SFA, despite the fact that the Ladyjacks landed six more kills on the night.
With the win, Sam Houston moves on to face top-seeded Texas State in the semifinals on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. In the other semifinal, No. 2 Lamar will face No. 6 McNeese State, who upset third-seeded UTSA in the day's first match.
-SFA-
