Junior Briana Mason hit .379 on the strength of a match-high 15 kills on Thursday night.SAN ANTONIO
— UTSA rallied from two sets down and handed Lamar a 17-25, 16-25, 25-22, 25-19, 15-10 setback in front of 447 fans on Thursday night at the Convocation Center.
The Roadrunners won their third consecutive contest and improved to 7-11 overall (2-2 SLC), while the Lady Cardinals saw their four-match winning streak come to an end in dropping to 8-8 (3-2 SLC).
"I am so proud of how the girls fought back tonight," head coach Laura Neugebauer-Groff said. "We could have packed it in after losing the first two sets, but we responded after the break and beat a very good team. The most important thing now is to carry the momentum over to Saturday's match with Sam."
After Lamar crusied to back-to-back victories to open the match, UTSA grabbed its first lead of the night at 11-10 in the first frame following intermission. The Birds went on to stretch the advantage to five (22-17) and they withstood a late Lady Cardinals' rally to keep the match alive.
UTSA raced out to a 12-5 lead the following stanza, but Lamar worked its way within one at 19-18. However, the Roadrunners were able to score six of the final seven points of the frame to send the contest to a fifth-and-deciding set.
It was all UTSA from that point forward, as it scored the first three tallies of the final frame and never looked back in picking up its first victory after dropping the first two sets in nearly a year (Oct. 15 at McNeese State).
Middle hitter Briana Mason racked up a match-high 15 kills and hit .379 to lead the Birds, while outside hitters Kendra Rowland and Whitney Walls contributed 12 and 10, respectively.
Libero Kelsey Jewasko led four Roadrunners in double figures with 24 digs and Rowland's 15 gave her eight double-doubles on the year.
The Lady Cardinals were led by Jayme Bazile's 13 winners and five block assists and Lauren Holdorff added a dozen kills to go along with five blocks.
The Roadrunners continue their home stand with a 2 p.m. match on Saturday against Sam Houston State (12-10, 4-1 SLC).