Box Score
Tucson, Ariz. – Playing in its first match of the Arizona Invitational, the Bobcats came out poised to upset the tournament host on Friday afternoon, but after a strong start, Texas State was unable to take down the Wildcats. Texas State fell, 3-0 (26-24, 25-16, 25-13), in its first of two matches on Friday at the McKale Center.
With the loss, Texas State evened its record at 6-6 on the season, while Arizona, which received votes in the latest AVCA Coaches Poll, improved to 8-2.
The first set was a battle from the very beginning as neither team was able to take more than a three-point advantage throughout the stanza. With the score tied 19-19, the Wildcats scored on back-to-back kills to give the home team a two-point advantage, 21-19, and force a Bobcat timeout.
Texas State came out of the timeout with vengeance as Ashlee Hilbun made a heads-up play, hitting a ball over on two following a diving dig by AJ Watlington, and Amari Deardorff followed with an ace to tie the score at 21-21. Watlington and Hilbun then combined to stuff an Arizona attack attempt as the Bobcats regained the lead at 22-21 to force a UA timeout.
The teams traded points until 23-23 when Arizona caught a break to shift the momentum in the Wildcats' direction. A ball was passed tightly to the net, and Irvin went up for the set but a UA player hit it onto the Bobcats' side of the floor. Texas State was looking for a call by the referee indicating that the attacker hit the ball while it was on the Bobcats' side of the floor, but no such call was made as the Wildcats took a 24-23 lead en route to take the opening set, 26-24.
The second set began much like the first as neither team took much of an advantage until a 4-1 run by the Wildcats caused a Bobcat timeout with the score 15-12 in favor of UA. Arizona continued to push the action after the timeout, lengthening the lead to 20-14 before a kill by Watlington brought the team back to within five, 20-15.
The teams traded points to make it 21-16, but Arizona would go on a four-point run to close out the second set, 25-16.
The final set was a struggle from the start for Texas State as Arizona used a pair of runs to grab a 16-4 lead. The Bobcats would come back as they strung together seven consecutive points, including a pair of aces and a dump kill by Shelbi Irvin, to reduce their deficit to seven, 19-12.
That is as close as Texas State would come as Arizona answered with back-to-back points before finishing the match with a 25-13 victory in the third set.
Irvin had a team-high 14 assists along with a season-best four aces for the Bobcats. Watlington led the team with seven kills and eight digs, while Amber Calhoun added six kills and a .400 hitting percentage that led the team.
The Bobcats finished with 7.0 blocks for the match compared to 2.0 for the Wildcats, but Arizona was more efficient on the offensive end as they led .379-.119 in hitting percentage.
Texas State returns to action on Friday evening when they play New Mexico State in the team's second match of the Arizona Invitational. Game time is schedule for 7 p.m. CST. Follow along with all the action in a live chat at txstatebobcats.com. Also, available through Arizona's athletics website, arizonawildcats.com, will be live stats and live video.
