In their first two games at home in nearly two weeks, the Sam Houston State volleyball team came out on the losing end of a pair of matches against the top two teams in the SLC-East.
The Bearkats (11-14, 5-7 SLC) hosted Lamar (20-8, 11-1 SLC) on Friday night and failed to capture a single set from the Cardinals, who took the victory in three, 30-26 30-16 30-20.
On Saturday, the Bearkats faced-off against McNeese State (14-12, 8-4 SLC) and claimed two sets before relinquishing the win in the fifth set for their fifth conference loss of the season.
In the first set against Lamar, the Bearkats allowed the Cardinals the first point of the game, but took the 3-2 lead on a kill by Cynthia Yarotsky. The Bearkats held the lead throughout the game, until the Cardinals tied it up after a six-point scoring streak.
After Lamar claimed the 25-24 lead, the Bearkats tied it up again at 26-26 with a service ace from Katie Phillips.
Yet the tying point would be the Bearkats’ last of the match as the Cardinals scored on a string of kills for the 26-30 win.
The Cardinals’ power on offense proved too much for the Bearkats to handle in set two as Lamar jumped ahead for an early 7-0 lead before Sam Houston State was able to get on the board thanks to a service error by the Cardinals’ Ashley Todd.
Sam Houston State claimed their first two points of the set on Lamar service errors. The Cardinals took an early 16-2 lead, and kept the game well out of reach for the Bearkats, who lost the 16-30 decision on a attack error from Brittanie Wallace.
In the final set of the night, Sam Houston State again gave up the opening points to the Cardinals as Lamar jumped ahead to an early 8-3 lead.
The Bearkats pulled ahead to bring the score within three, yet the Cardinals put the game away with a pair of four-point scoring sprees for the 20-30 victory.
On Saturday, the Bearkats lost to McNeese State in five sets, 26-30 22-30 30-24 30-27 10-15.
Wallace led in kills against the Cowboys with 21, followed by Yarotsky with 12 and Sarah Hazlewood with 11. Yarotsky took top dig honors in the match with 28.
The Bearkats will play their next match on Thursday at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 7 p.m.