The Sam Houston State University Bearkats defeated the Lamar Cardinals and picked up their first sweep of conference play this season.
Heading into the afternoon matchup, the Bearkats held a 45-26 lead in the all-time series, winning 12 out of the last 15 meetings. The Bearkats also hold an eight-match home win streak against Lamar, with their last loss being in 2015.
Senior setter Jaclyn Ward stood out with three kills, 23 assists and seven digs while fellow senior Taylor Cunningham continued her hot streak with seven digs and 12 kills.
With the first set tied at 4-4, the Bearkats never looked back from there and took a commanding 17 to 10 lead. Cunningham collected five kills in the first set along with a couple blocks to power the SHSU to a 25-15 win in the first set.
The Kats jumped out to a commanding 18-8 lead in the second set. Cunningham added three more blocks, and Ward continued to dominate with six digs. The Bearkats took the second set 25-15 setting up the potential sweep.
In the third set, SHSU took an early lead and never looked back. With Ward’s 10 assists in the third set, the Bearkats powered through a strong comeback attempt from the Cardinals. SHSU called a timeout to regroup and then never looked back, scoring three straight to eventually pick up the 25-18 victory to sweep Lamar.
SHSU’s next match will be Thursday at 7 p.m. in San Antonio against the University of Incarnate Word Cardinals. SHSU will enter that riding a six-match win streak.
