The morning match saw the Hornets come up just short (25-21, 25-21, 25-20) to the Southern Utah Thunderbirds (1-1) and the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns (2-0) held off DSU (25-9, 25-19, 25-18) Friday afternoon at the Comfort Suites-Sam Houston State Invitational, held at the Johnson Coliseum in Huntsville, Texas.

The opening game of the day showed DSU to be competitive despite falling just short in all three sets.  The first set saw the teams play even to 14-14, but the Thunderbirds began to side out consistently enough to pull away, as an Elise Hermann ace would be the only point the Hornets could take away on their serve for the rest of the frame.  First Team All-MEAC selection Cassandra Joyner starred for DSU with four kills on seven total attacks, and the Hornets tallied three blocks to just one for SUU. 

Hornets make an early 8-1 run to take an 11-7 advantage behind three kills and three Southern Utah attack errors, forcing a Thunderbird timeout in the second set.  However SUU's plan to force setter Sarah Wheatcroft to play defense began to take shape.  Wheatcroft gave a game effort with six digs, but the rest of the squad was unable to set and attack effectively without her.  SUU was led by outside hitter Jasmine Ma'afala, who put away four of her nine kills in the match in the second stanza.

The final set saw the Hornets ahead 18-14 late after four straight service points from Cassandra Joyner, but a string of errors down the stretch allowed SUU to close the match on an 11-2 run. 

Match number two on the day was more of a struggle for the young Hornet team, who started three sophomores in both games today.  Louisiana-Lafayette was able to attack early and often in Set 1, killing 11 balls against just two errors on 24 attacks for a gaudy .375 hitting percentage, and notching four service aces as well.  In the second set the Hornets began to assert themselves defensively at the net, outblocking the Ragin' Cajuns at the net 4-2, while holding their opponents to a negative hit percentage for the first time on the young season.  In what was a defensive struggle, the Cajuns were able to outdig DSU 20-16, and won a much closer second stanza 25-19.

In the third set DSU continued to show improvement, scoring more kills than errors in a set for the first time in the match.  A balanced offense saw five different Hornets find the ULL floor from an attack, but the Cajun tandem of Ariel Krolikowski and Amie Goodwin proved too much, combining for nine kills against just one error on 21 attacks to put the Hornets away. 

The losses overshadow the first double-doubles on the season for setter Sarah Wheatcroft.  The junior setter from Oro Station, Ontario notched 23 assists on just 27 Hornet kills during the first match, and set a career high with 15 digs for a match twice in one day.  She posted 15 digs yet again versus ULL, in addition to 15 more assists.