| Junior Stefanie Robbins led UTSA with 11 kills on Friday. |
NACOGDOCHES ? Alyson Jones slammed home a match-high 18 kills and helped lead No. 6 seed McNeese State to a 25-23, 25-21, 25-21 victory against third-seeded UTSA in Friday’s first quarterfinal at the Southland Conference Tournament.
The loss ended the Roadrunners’ season at 19-12, while the Cowgirls improved to 12-17 in advancing to Saturday’s first semifinal against Lamar.
UTSA held a 20-11 lead in the first set and looked to be on its way to winning the opening frame for the 18th time this fall. However, McNeese State closed out the stanza on a 14-3 run to pull off the improbable victory.
The Roadrunners then fell behind one frame later and staved off three set points, but the Cowgirls held on the for the four-point win and they took a commanding 2-0 lead into the locker room.
UTSA held an 8-7 advantage coming out of intermission, but McNeese State used a 7-1 run to take a 19-12 lead. A Roadrunner 6-1 stretch got them within one at 22-21, but the Cowgirls closed out the contest with three consecutive points to advance.
Jennifer Cook joined Jones in double figures with 10 winners and she added a match-high four block assists. Meanwhile, Amanda Allen led the back row defense with a match-best 22 digs and Ayshin Vasser racked up 16.
SLC Newcomer of the Year Stefanie Robbins paced UTSA with 11 kills and four block assists, while SLC Libero of the Year Kelsey Jewasko collected a dozen digs.