LAKE CHARLES—The McNeese volleyball team returned a favor to Houston Baptist Thursday night by handing the Huskies a straight set (25-12, 25-21, 26-24) Southland Conference loss, extending the Cowgirls' winning streak to five matches. The win is the fourth straight set win for the Cowgirls. Houston Baptist defeated McNeese in four sets earlier this year at the South Alabama Jaguar Invitational.
 
Senior outside hitter Malina Sanchez once again paced the Cowgirls with another outstanding match. Sanchez led all players with a match high 13 kills along with a .379 hitting percent. Sanchez added 10 digs for her 10^th double-double of the season. The Cowgirls' defense was relentless throughout the match, picking up huge digs in crucial situations. Bridget Justis and Kelly Graham joined Sanchez with double figure digs. Justis was credited with 12 and Graham with 10. Graham also dished out a match high 35 assists. Freshman Ebony Lewis played a big part in the offense, ending the match with a .571 hitting percent on eight kills in 14 attempts without an error.
 
For the second straight match, the Cowgirls played with poise and came up with big plays when they needed to.  Despite facing the third best blocking team in the league, it was the Cowgirls that came up with two huge blocks at the end of the third set.
 
With the Cowgirls leading the overall match 2-0, the third set was back and forth from the first serve. The largest lead by either team in the set was two points. McNeese held the last two point lead at 21-19 but the Huskies would come back to tie the set at 21 all. The teams would trade points and with the set tied at 23 apiece, the first big block assists by Shanna Spree and Monica Hudgins would give McNeese a 24-23 lead. A kill by HBU's Blair Gillard tied the set at 24 but another block assists by Spree and Ebony Lewis put the Cowgirls up 25-24. Spree would knock down a kill for the 26-24 third set win and the overall match victory.
 
The victory improves the Cowgirls' record to 10-13 overall and 5-3 in the SLC. The loss drops HBU to 11-12 overall and 4-5 in the SLC. McNeese will host league leading Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in a 12:30 p.m. match Saturday.