BOX SCORE

HUNTSVILLE, Texas- The University of Texas-Pan American volleyball team dropped their season opener to Sam Houston State University 3-1 (25-14 25-15 20-25 25-21) in the opening match of the Bearkat Inivitational Friday afternoon at Johnson Coliseum. The Broncs rallied from a 2-0 deficit to take the third set before dropping a highly competitive fourth set. This was the first game of the season for the Beaarkats as well.

“We did some good things out there today and I saw some glimpses of what we can expect in the future from our team,” UTPA head coach Brian Yale said. “What I was most proud of was that we did not fold when we got behind and had a very competitive end to the match.”

The Broncs took an early 3-1 lead in the opening set capped off by a service ace from Maria Kliefoth. The Bearkats responded with a 10-0 run giving SHSU an 11-3 advantage in the opening set. The Broncs struggled to find a rhythm as the committed 10 errors in the opening set and fell 25-14 giving the Bearkats the 1-0 lead.

The second set was more of the same for the Broncs. UTPA fell behind after a 7-2 set opening run by the Bearkats, with Kendall Cleveland posting three kills for SHSU during the stretch. The Broncs strengthened their kill numbers to seven in the second set with three apiece for Ijanae Holman and Maria Kliefoth, and

The Broncs rallied back to take the third set 25-20 with Holman leading the way with four kills. After falling behind 3-1, the Broncs fought back and claimed a three-point edge at 12-9 after a kill by freshman Diara Reynolds. The Bearkats pulled to within a point at 13-12. The Broncs responded with an 8-1 run including two services aces by Reynolds to lead 21-13. SHSU would get no closer than four points for the remainder of the set before the Broncs picked up their first set victory of 2011.

In the final set the Broncs tallied three straight points after a 3-3 start to take a 6-3 advantage after kills from Holman and Sarah Davis. The Bearkats rattled off four straight points to re-claim the lead at 7-6. Despite tying the set seven times, the young Broncs saw the match slip away as SHSU's Deveney Wells-Gibson's kill gave the Bearkats the 25-21 victory in the set and 3-1 win for the match.

“Pulling out the third set was key for us today,” Coach Yale added. “Ijanae stepped up and showed why she was an upperclassmen on our young team. I was pleased with Shauna Miller today as she threw up a ton of hittable balls for our attackers.”

Holman led all attackers on the afternoon with 13 kills while adding 11 digs for the double-double. Miller was impressive in her debut match with 31 assists to lead UTPA. Juri Franzen added 22 digs on the defensive end to lead UTPA.

Cleveland lead the Bearkats with 11 kills for the match and chipping in with 14 digs for the lone SHSU double-double. Kym Loving added 38 assists for the Bearkats. Tayler Gray was the leader on defense with 16 digs.