Volleyball Rally Falls Short

October 11, 2008

KINGSVILLE, Texas – Southwestern Oklahoma State University’s gutsy comeback against Texas A&M-Kingsville fell just short as the Bulldogs were beaten 3-2 in a volleyball match Saturday in Kingsville, Texas.

The Javelinas won by scores of 30-28, 24-26, 25-22, 18-25 and 15-9. SWOSU dropped to 8-13 overall and 1-5 in the Lone Star Conference while TAMUK improved to 7-11 and 3-4 in league play.

SWOSU and Javelinas played on even terms for much of the match before a cold start to game five proved too much to overcome. The Bulldogs found themselves down 8-1 in the final and deciding game and could only watch as the Javelinas quickly closed them out.

SWOSU had already shown their share of grit and determination rallying back from an astounding 10-0 hole to win game two. The Bulldogs drew even at 22-22 and a service ace by Kacia Sandburg provided the final point in the amazing comeback.

SWOSU had a season-high 69 kills in the match against only 32 errors. The Bulldogs carried an attack percentage of .198 through the five games. A&M-Kingsville was only slightly better coming up with 59 kills on only 22 errors. The Javelinas hit .218 through the course of the match.

The big difference came in the service department were the Bulldogs had an unusual struggle misfiring on 14 service attempts that resulted in errors. Kingsville had just seven service errors.

Sandburg had a season-high 20 kills to lead SWOSU. Emily Walter had 15 kills and Staci West added 14 for SWOSU.

Defensively, Kayla Bader had 27 digs, the most by any SWOSU player this season.

The Bulldogs will next play at home Thursday, Oct. 16 against Eastern New Mexico. Gametime is at 7 p.m.