UTSA beat Sam Houston State University 3-2 on Saturday afternoon at the Convocation Center.
The ‘Runners (5-5) and the Bearkats (4-5) have a long history of matches. Their first match was in 1985, with UTSA losing 2-0. The Roadrunners have won 26 of their 55 matches against Sam Houston State. The last match was in 2019, the Bearkats won 3-2.
Heading into this game, the Roadrunners were coming off a loss to University of Alabama the night before in a five-set match.
“Last night’s mindset to today is we don’t want to lose and we want to get in there,” freshman outside hitter Ally Tribe said. “We knew Sam was going to produce a good defense and a good offense and we just had to capitalize on that.”
The fourth set began with back-and-forth plays between the Roadrunners and the Bearkats. However, Sam Houston State kept the momentum from the third set creating a lead of 14-6, the biggest lead in this match.
Graduate student and outside hitter Lylah Washington stepped up to serve for the second time in a row against UTSA. Junior outside hitter Caroline Krueger picked up the ball and passed it to sophomore setter Annika Sokol. Sam Houston State, geared up for Sokol to set the ball, but the Roadrunners instead geared up for a fake out.
Sokol put her hands up and reached for the set but pulled her right hand back from the ball as it was flying down towards her. While the Bearkats expected Sokol to make a set, she went in for a kill, ultimately killing the momentum that Sam Houston State held over the ‘Runners.
The Roadrunners were able to decrease the gap in points between the two teams, although it was not enough, UTSA lost the set 25-21.
“Just like last night we got production from a lot of different people and it’s really exciting to have a lot of people producing,” coach Carol Price-Torok said.
In the fifth set, Sam Houston State got the set point first. The ‘Runners were able to tie the score, which took the set into overtime. The two teams went back-and-forth but UTSA won the set 18-16.
“Great weekend for us, last night was a tough five setter,” Price-Torok said. “But easy isn’t fun, right? We want to work hard, we want to show up every single day. We want to find a way to win and that’s what we did today.”
UTSA will play McNeese State University at 10 a.m. Friday at Legacy Center.
