HAMMOND - Jennifer Henrichsen recorded a match-high 19 kills to lead four players in double figures as Sam Houston State kept up the pressure on Southland Conference leaders Texas-Arlington and Texas State and rallied past Southeastern 26-30, 31-29, 30-22, 30-26 Friday at the University Center.
Alisha Fowler added 13 kills for SHSU (11-5, 5-2 SLC), which won its fifth straight contest and remained one-half game behind UTA (a 3-1 winner at Nicholls State) and Texas State (a 3-0 winner over Northwestern State) in the league standings. Southeastern, playing its first match at home since a five-game win over Lamar on Sept. 21, dropped its fifth straight to fall to 7-8 overall and 2-5 in the SLC.
Southeastern took advantage of nine SHSU attack errors and five service miscues to take the first game as Keri Hamblin recorded four of her team-high 14 kills in the opening contest. Southeastern led for much of the first game before SHSU took a 24-23 lead on a kill by Cynthia Yarotsky. But Hamblin tied the score with a kill and a pair of bad sets by Karlee Butler and a hitting error by Henrichsen vaulted Southeastern to a 27-24 advantage.
Sam Houston State returned the favor in the second game as it forced 11 Southeastern hitting errors and blocked four attempts to even the match at 1-1. Fowler and Henrichsen led the Bearkats with three kills each while Butler notched 10 of her match-high 53 assists in the frame.
Both teams came out hitting in the fourth game as SHSU posted a .300 hitting average compared to Southeastern's .225 clip. Henrichsen tallied six kills, with one error in 12 attempts, in the third game while Chrissy Engle added four of her 11 kills in the 30-22 SHSU victory.
The Bearkats, who entered the contest second in the SLC in hitting percentage, closed out the match in the fourth game hitting .255 as Henrichsen had six kills and a .625 hitting percentage and Fowler added five kills and a .571 average.
Yarotsky led all players with 25 digs while Henrichsen completed a double-double with 18 digs. Ashley Rougeou had 11 kills for Southeastern to move past Britten Kimbell for ninth-place on the school's all-time list. Freshman Melissa Jones added 11 kills for the Lady Lions while Juliana Neves had 10. Brittany Gaydos tallied 23 digs for Southeastern, Hamblin added 20 and Heidi Kellerman 19.
Southeastern returns to action on Saturday as it hosts UTA (14-3, 6-2 SLC) in a 4 p.m. contest.
Sam Houston State def. Southeastern 26-30, 31-29, 30-22, 30-26
Sam Houston State (11-5, 5-2 SLC) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Jennifer Henrichsen 19-1-2; Alisha Fowler 13-0-5; Cynthia Yarotsky 12-0-1; Chrissy Engle 11-2-4; Karlee Butler 5-1-2; Rachel Scott 4-0-4; Brittany Williams 0-1-0; Totals 64-5-9.0. (Assists) - Karlee Butler 53. (Dig leaders) - Cynthia Yarotsky 25; Karlee Butler 19; Jennifer Henrichsen 18; Rachel Scott 15; Emily Orlowski 13; Chrissy Engle 8.
Southeastern La. (7-8, 2-5 SLC) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Keri Hamblin 14-0-1; Melissa Jones 11-0-3; Ashley Rougeou 11-1-5; Juliana Neves 10-0-0; Jennifer Jones 6-0-0; Erin Miles 5-0-2; Jill Edwards 3-1-1; Heidi Kellermann 2-0-1; Brittany Gaydos 0-1-0; Totals 62-3-8.0. (Assists) - Jill Edwards 43. (Dig leaders) - Brittany Gaydos 23; Keri Hamblin 20; Heidi Kellermann 19; Jill Edwards 13; Erin Miles 11.
