HOUSTON – Houston Baptist University withstood a flurry of comebacks by Sam Houston State to hold off the Bearkats for a 3-2 (25-21, 17-25, 25-16, 20-25, 15-13) victory in non-conference volleyball Tuesday night at Sharp Gym.

HBU sophomore middle blocker Caiti Wenger led the Huskies (6-2) by hitting .407 with 13 kills to go along with three blocks and a pair of aces. Senior outside hitter Christie Dorch hit .379 with 12 kills, seven digs and a pair of blocks, while junior outside hitter Heather Leaverton posted her third double-double of the season and fourth-straight match with double-digit digs with 10 kills and a team-high 17 digs.

Junior setter Victoria Weatherly also had her third double-double with 40 assists, 12 digs, four kills and three blocks. Senior middle blocker Jolie Graf added nine kills and six blocks, while senior libero Courtney Whittleman had 15 digs.

Kendall Cleveland had a match-high 19 kills for Sam Houston State (5-3), while Kelli Stewart had 13 kills. Haley Neisler and Kim Black added 10 kills apiece, while Camille Alfaro had seven kills and 17 digs. Kym Loving had 51 assists and seven digs, and Kaylee Hawkins recorded a match-high 22 digs, and Tayler Gray chipped in with 13 digs.

HBU hit .242 for the match, while holding Sam Houston State to a .175 hitting percentage, the seventh time in eight matches the Huskies have held their opponent to .180 or lower. The Bearkats outdug the Huskies, 76-70, but HBU had 11 blocks to Sam Houston State's six.

In the fifth set, HBU scored the first point of the set for the first time in the match. Sam Houston State held a 6-5 lead, but HBU scored the next three points on a pair of kills by Leaverton and an ace by Whittleman. The Bearkats tied the set 9-9, but the Huskies scored four of the next five points. Sam Houston State cut the lead to 13-12, but senior rightside hitter Isis Gardner and Graf combined for a huge block to set up match point. After the Bearkats sided out to make the score 14-13, Dorch put the match away with a kill.

Sam Houston State scored the first two points of the match, but HBU scored seven straight to take control of the first set. The Bearkats clawed back to within two at 14-12, but Dorch had five kills down the stretch to lead the Huskies to a 25-21 decision.

The Bearkats scored eight of the first nine points in the second and the Huskies couldn't recover from the early deficit. HBU got to within three points on two occasions at 14-11 and 15-12, but Sam Houston State scored the last four points of the set to even the match with a 25-17 win.

Sam Houston State took an 8-7 lead in the third, but HBU scored six-straight points to gain the advantage. Wenger recorded kills for the Huskies' next four points to take a 17-13 lead and lead HBU to a 2-1 lead in the match with a 25-16 victory.

The fourth set was tied at nine, but the Bearkats scored a pair of points, then followed with a four-point run to take a 17-12 lead. Sam Houston State never let HBU closer than three points as the Bearkats sent the match to a fifth set by a score of 25-20.