VOLLEYBALL’S COMEBACK BID FALL SHORT IN LOSS AT TEXAS STATE

8/30/2008

SAN MARCOS, Texas -- Jessica Weynand had a match-high 18 kills to lead tournament host Texas State to a 3-2 victory over Sacramento State (25-20, 25-15, 21-25, 22-25, 15-11) in the third round of the CenturyTel Volleyball Premier Saturday morning at Strahan Coliseum.

Weynand (18), Lawrencia Brown (14) and Melinda Cave (14) combined for 46 of the Bobcats’ 66 kills. Four of Cave’s 14 kills came in the decisive fifth set. Texas State improved to 2-1 at the two-day, four-match tournament while Sacramento State dropped to 1-2. The Hornets, who defeated Texas Pan-American and lost to Miami yesterday, return later this afternoon to face Louisiana-Monroe at 3 p.m. PST.

After the Hornets won the third and fourth frames to force a fifth set, Texas State jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the fifth, and never trailed the rest of the way. Sacramento State did close to within, 12-10, after a service ace from Rose Burke, but that was as close as the team would get. The Bobcats hit .333 in the fifth set with 10 kills and just one error while the Hornets hit .231 (9-3-26). All three of those attack errors came inside the first five points of the frame.

Freshman Cayti Crowton led the Hornets with a season-high 13 kills while freshman Eryn Kirby (12) and sophomore Maddison Thivierge (11) also chipped in double-figure kills. In addition, Thivierge posted career highs in digs (7), blocks (8) and aces (3) as the Ashland, Ore., native has been the most consistent Hornet over the first three matches. Sacramento State had 13.0 team blocks (including five from Burke and four from Kirby), but hit just .160 and had 10 service errors.

Hornet senior libero Katie Van Der Wende led all players with a career-high 25 digs while Burke had 15 digs and Desiree Hoyum chipped in 11. Crowton combined with freshman Kelsey Elston on a block to give the Hornets a 25-22 win in the fourth set and force the final frame. Kirby, playing in just her third intercollegiate match, finished with 12 kills, nine digs, two aces and four blocks. Senior Brittany Ferguson finished with seven kills.

Texas State hit .283 as a team, including Cave’s 14 kills with just two errors in 27 attacks (.444 hitting percentage). Weynand hit .311 (18-4-45) and added 11 digs.

Sacramento State underclassmen (freshmen and sophomores) combined for 40 of the team’s 54 kills, or 74.1 percent of the team’s offensive production.