Nov. 21, 2009

Box Score

SAN ANTONIO - Senior Adrianne Meengs posted her fourth triple-double of the season, but it was not enough as top-seeded Texas State edged No. 4-seed Lamar University 3-1 Saturday afternoon in the semifinals of the Southland Conference Tournament at the Convocation Center.

Lamar ends its season with a 15-14 overall record. Texas State (21-12) advanced to the SLC Tournament championship game Sunday at 2 p.m.

"It felt like this was the championship match," said Lamar coach Justin Gibert. "The last two sets were very tight and needed to be extended before they were decided. Not taking anything away for the other teams, but I feel like this may have been the best match of the tournament."

The Cardinals came out sluggish in dropping the first set 17-25. Lamar returned the favor with a dominating 25-16 win in set two. The Cardinals jumped out to a 6-0 lead and never trailed. Meengs pounded out six kills in the set and Lamar hit .222 as a team.

Texas State rallied for a 28-26 win in set three, which featured 15 ties and six lead changes. A pair of kills by Meengs pushed Lamar to the brink with 24-22 lead. The Bobcats tied the set at 24-24. With the scored tied at 26-26, Texas State scored twice with the set winner coming on a kill by Mo Middleton.

It was more of the same in the fourth set, which had 14 ties and five lead changes, before the Bobcats held on for a 26-24 win to close out the match. Freshman Jayme Bazile was nearly unstoppable for the Cards, pounding out seven kills in the set. A kill by Lauren Holdorff tied the game at 24-24. Consecutive kills by Jessica Weynand and Middleton gave Texas State the win.

"It's always a horse race when we play Texas State," said Gibert. "Whoever has the better offense usually prevails, and they were a little better offensively then us today. We just needed a ball to fall our way and it didn't."

Meengs closed out her Lamar career in style. She led the team in kills with 15, passed out 35 assists and had 19 digs. She also led the team with a .448 hitting percentage. This was her ninth career triple-double.

"(Adrianne) Meengs was phenomenal and is the superstar of the tournament," Gibert said. "She makes so many things happen for us. She's going to be an incredible loss for our program."

Bazile was the only other Cardinals to post double-figures in kills with 11. She posted a .364 hitting percentage and had four blocks. Senior Kaci Brewer added eight kills and 13 digs. Sophomore Bailey Smith led the team with 21 digs.

Middleton led Texas State with 16 kills. Melinda Cave recorded a double-double with 14 kills and 13 digs and Weynand added 10 kills and nine digs.

As a team, Lamar hit .149 with 78 digs and six total blocks. Texas State hit .198 with 77 digs and 15 total blocks.

"I was pleased with how the team played," said Gibert. "We have a lot of young talent, with 10 either freshman or redshirt freshman on the roster, and this was a good experience for them. Even though we lose some good players, I think the program is heading in the right direction."