SAN MARCOS, Texas – Sam Houston State defeated UTSA in five sets Friday at the Strahan Arena.
The Roadrunners fall to 6-6 after the 3-2 defeat (21-25, 25-22, 25-16, 22-25, 9-15), while the Bearkats improve to 4-7.
Every time the Roadrunners needed a big kill, freshman Bianca Ejesieme and senior Brianna McCulloch delivered. Ejesieme smashed 11 on 23 attempts with three errors, while McCulloch's 22 is one off her personal best. She hit .475 with 22 kills and three miscues on 40 attacks.
Freshman Courtney Walters registered her third double-double with 39 assists and 10 digs, while sophomore posted her sixth of the season for UTSA with 16 kills and 10 digs.
The 16 kills sets a new personal best for Smith, as did classmate Lydia Niebla's 15 digs and senior Emily Ramirez's game-high 29.
The Bearkats never backed down early from UTSA's relentless attack and capitalized late on untimely errors the Roadrunners inability to finish. SHSU took advantage of its opportunity with fourth and fifth set victories.
In each of the first three games, UTSA jumped out to early leads, including double-digit advantages in the second and third.
Leading 5-4 in the opener, the Roadrunners opened up its largest margin at 9-4 on the first point after a Bearkats timeout. The margin remained at five until SHSU rattled off four-consecutive kills as part of a 9-1 run and giving the Bearkats a 19-12 edge. UTSA got as close as 23-21 before a Roadrunners service error and attacking error secured the 1-0 lead for Sam Houston State.
The Roadrunners built leads of 7-0, 11-4 and 18-12 but the Bearkats did not go away in the second and threaten to go up 2-0 before intermission. Leading by just one at 21-20, a kill by Ejesieme and two by McCulloch made it 24-22 for UTSA and a service error by the visitors evened things at 1-1, at the break.
Much like game two, the Roadrunners built big advantages. Ahead 10-5, they scored nine of the next 14 to grab a 19-10 edge, en route to the 2-1 lead.
The fourth and fifth sets belonged to the Bearkats, grabbing early momentum in both. Facing defeat, they jumped out 14-8 before the Roadrunners rallied and knotted things at 18-18. SHSU held on by outscoring UTSA 7-4 and forcing a deciding fifth set.
When the teams changed sides, the Bearkats had an 8-3 edge and forced the Roadrunners to take a timeout. Trailing a 11-5, UTSA used its final timeout but it did not slow down the onslaught. SHSU held eight-match points before the Roadrunners fought off three straight to cut the deficit to 14-9 but that was all they could muster.
UTSA concludes the fourth tournament in as many weekends and non-conference play when the Roadrunners face the George Washington Colonials at 11 a.m. This is the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
