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2016 Southland Volleyball Tournament Central
CONWAY, Ark. – While the second match of the 2016 Southland Volleyball Tournament between No. 3 Sam Houston State and No. 6 Northwestern State appeared to be a mismatch on paper, it turned into a four-set shootout with two of the more impressive offensive performances of the season on both sides of the net. The Lady Demons entered today’s match-up ranked 10
th in the conference in hitting percentage (.190) while Sam Houston State ranked second (.219). With 18 tie scores through four sets, Northwestern State was right on the heels of the Bearkats from start to finish, but early deficits and unforced errors doomed the Lady Demons to a 3-1 loss.
Both sides traded blows in the opening points of the first set before the Bearkats edged out to a 7-4 lead, forcing an early Northwestern State timeout. The Lady Demons could not overcome a 10-2 scoring run from Sam Houston State through the middle of the set. When NSU head coach Sean Kiracofe called his second timeout with the score 20-14, the Bearkats were hitting in impressive .350. Sam Houston State remained composed and closed out the first set 25-16. Although the Lady Demons held a 13-11 advantage on kills, the Bearkats held a healthy advantage on hitting percentage (.391 to .250). Northwestern State also hurt themselves, giving up five points on service errors and committing five attack errors. First Team All-Conference selection Brooke White led the Sam Houston State attack with four kills while sophomore Reagan Rogers notched seven for the Lady Demons.
The Bearkats came out swinging in the second set, building a 7-3 lead before Kiracofe called another early timeout to slow the momentum. It did the trick, as the Lady Demon defense stepped up and helped Northwestern State tie set two at 8-8 before Sam Houston State head coach Brenda Gray called a timeout of her own. The Lady Demons had the best of the momentum after the Bearkat timeout, building an 18-14 lead before Gray had seen enough, calling her final timeout of the set. The momentum still stayed well on the Lady Demon side of the court, as they emphatically pushed ahead to a 25-20 set three win on the heels of a .281 hitting percentage and 25 kills. Rogers led the way again, registering 11 kills and a .348 hitting percentage as the teams headed into intermission tied 1-1.
The two sides went nearly point for point through the opening stages of set three, with the Bearkats edging out to a narrow 11-6 lead before Kiracofe called his first timeout. The Bearkats maintained a narrow lead but neither side would score more than two consecutive points until Kiracofe called his second timeout with the score 21-17 in favor of Sam Houston State. The back-and-forth scoring continued, but the early deficit came back to haunt the Lady Demons, who dropped set three 25-19. The Bearkats would take a 2-1 lead into set four.
Both teams posted almost identical hitting percentages, with Northwestern State holding a slight advantage over Sam Houston State (.260 to .250) and the Lady Demons bested the Bearkats in kills (39-33). The errors were still piling up and preventing them from going on a substantial run – 12 services errors and 14 attack errors were committed after three sets. Northwestern State’s defense kept them within striking distance with 12 block assists and six total team blocks.
The point trading continued until Sam Houston State finally found their offensive footing, going on a nine-point scoring run through the middle of the fourth set which the Lady Demons had no answer for. Kiracofe attempted to salvage the fourth set with his team down 15-12, but following his timeout the Bearkats would keep their foot on the gas and cruise to a victory in the fourth set 25-15.
Both teams churned out solid offensive performances, with Sam Houston State holding the advantage on hitting percentage (.277 to .211) and slight edge on kills (50-46). Rogers led the Lady Demons with 14 total kills and the Bearkats had two hitters with double-digit kills – both All-Conference selections Taylor Cunningham (10) and Brooke White (15). One of Northwestern State’s most dangerous opponents on the day was on their own side of the net; the Lady Demons racked up 19 attack errors, 14 service errors and eight return errors which put a stopper in any attempt to make a run at the Bearkats.
Sam Houston State will face No. 2 Stephen F. Austin tomorrow at 12 p.m. in the first semifinal match-up. The Bearkats split their two meetings with the Ladyjacks this season, dropping the first on the road in Nacogdoches 3-0 on Sept. 24 before winning the second 3-1 at home on Nov. 1. Both semifinals will be streamed live on the
Southland Digital Network.