Box Score
Huntsville, Texas – After a promising start on Friday afternoon, the Texas State volleyball team had a disappointing finish as the Bobcats had its season cut short by Lamar in the first round of the Southland Conference Tournament at Johnson Coliseum in Huntsville, Texas. Texas State dropped the five-set match, 24-26, 27-25, 25-22, 21-25, 16-14, as Lamar now advances to play UTSA in the semifinals of the tournament on Saturday.
An extremely tightly contested match from the outset, the Bobcats took a 1-0 lead in the match before the Lady Cardinals (13-15, 8-8 SLC) edged the reigning Southland Conference Tournament champions in the second and third sets. The fourth set went back-and-forth before a late run by the Bobcats secured the four-point win to tie the match at two sets apiece.
The fifth set began much like the others as neither team could gain much of an advantage. A kill from Amari Deardorff evened the match at 3-3, and two points later, AJ Watlington evened the set again at 4-4 with a kill. Lamar then pulled ahead to take a 7-5 advantage before extending its advantage to three points, 11-8, forcing a Texas State timeout.
Out of the timeout, the Bobcats scored the next three points, two of which came on a pair of blocks from Amber Calhoun and Deardorff, tying the match at 11-11. Following a Lamar timeout, Mo Middleton's ace gave Texas State its first lead of the set at 12-11. And just when it seemed that the Bobcats had seized the momentum, Lamar responded with the next three points to take a 14-12 lead for match point.
However, Texas State would not go out without a fight as Watlington put down consecutive kills to even the score at 14-14. After a Bobcat service error, Lamar earned its third match point opportunity and was able to capitalize this time. A long rally ended with a kill from Lamar's Jayme Bazile to give the Lady Cardinals a 16-14 fifth-set victory.
Texas State was led offensively by Watlington, who finished the match and her Bobcat career with a career-high 21 kills. The First Team All-Southland Conference selection also added nine digs for Texas State to wrap up her senior season.
Also playing in their final matches for Texas State were Mo Middleton, Shelbi Irvin and Melinda Cave. Middleton was third on the team with 15 kills, while Irvin handed out 25 assists and led the team with 16 digs for her ninth double-double of the season. Cave gave the team a spark off the bench as she had three kills and four digs.
Deardorff, an All-SLC First Team selection, totaled 19 kills for the Bobcats along with a .548 hitting percentage, finishing the match with just two errors on 31 attempts. The freshman from Austin, Texas also had five digs, five blocks and two aces in the match.
Defensively, Texas State posted 11.0 blocks, led by Calhoun's seven. Irvin's 16 digs were the most for Texas State which recorded 67 for the match. Danielle Sanchou was second on the squad with 12 digs.
Sophomore Caleigh McCorquodale had 35 assists to lead Texas State which hit .233 for the contest.
The Bobcats finished its 2010 season with a 19-12 record and 12-4 mark in the Southland Conference. The 2010 season marked the eighth consecutive season that the Bobcats have recorded at least 10 wins in conference play.
