Volleyball Loses to TAMUK

October 13, 2007

WEATHERFORD, Okla. – Southwestern Oklahoma State University fought back from what appeared to be certain defeat only to find itself facing a squad with the same fighting spirit. The Bulldogs were beaten by visiting Texas A&M University-Kingsville in an evenly matched volleyball game Saturday by a 3-2 score.

The Javelinas won by scores of 29-31, 30-28, 30-28, 25-30 and 16-14. The loss was SWOSU sixth straight and dropped the Bulldogs overall record to 9-16 and 1-5 in the Lone Star Conference. TAMUK improved to 11-9 overall and 4-4 in league play.

SWOSU looked as if it was going to wrap up the match in short order taking a 26-20 lead in the important third game. However, the Javelinas responded by winning six of the next eight points to draw even at 28-28. The Bulldogs finished with four consecutive attack errors that allowed TAMUK to complete its rally back for the improbable win.

SWOSU managed to turn the momentum back in its favor in game four, strengthening its resolve with a convincing 30-25 win.

The Bulldogs had match point in the fifth leading 14-13 after a kill by Paula Harry. However, two straight Bulldog errors and a kill shot by the Javelinas Adina Gray was all that was needed for TAMUK to escape with a 16-14 win.

Kacia Sandburg had a season-high 22 kills to lead SWOSU’s offensive attack. Kasandra Gurtrner added 17 and Harry added 15 for the Bulldogs. Setter Kristen Kaufman kept the offense humming finishing the game with a season-best 60 assists. SWOSU had 78 kills in 227 attacks against 35 errors for an attack percentage of .189.

Defensively, Janna Green had 26 digs and teammate Amanda Ortega had 22 as the Bulldogs managed to stop 103 different kill attempts by the Javelinas in the two-hour plus match.