Box Score
Beaumont, Texas – The Texas State volleyball team fell to Lamar, 3-2 (25-18, 23-25, 25-20, 22-25, 17-15), in a back-and-forth affair on Thursday night in McDonald Gym. In front of a noisy crowd of 381 fans, the Bobcats came back from a 2-1 deficit to force a fifth set before the Cardinals rallied to edge the Bobcats in the fifth set, 17-15.
AJ Watlington paced Texas State (9-8, 2-1 Southland) with 15 kills, while Amber Calhoun was also in double figures with 10 winners. Preslie Alexander and Melinda Cave added nine and eight kills, respectively, as the Bobcats totaled 61 for the match.
Shelbi Irvin recorded her team-high seventh double-double of the season as she led the team in both assists (29) and digs (11). Caleigh McCorquodale narrowly missed her fifth double-double of the season after finishing with 22 assists and eight digs.
In addition to 10 kills, Calhoun finished with a team-high seven blocks (six assists, one solo). Watlington had three stuffs, while Alexander and Rachel James both added a pair.
After dropping the first set, 25-18, the Bobcats came out strong in the second set and took an early lead, 8-5, on a kill from Ashlee Hilbun. Texas State's three-point lead remained until the score was 13-10 and the Cardinals went on a 3-1 run to even the set at 14-14.
Lamar briefly took a lead, but the Bobcats bounced back behind the serving of Mo Middleton to go in front, 23-19. Following a kill from the Cardinals, Watlington put down a kill off a broken play to give the Bobcats four set point opportunities. Texas State would need all four as Lamar rattled off three straight points before Calhoun's attack landed just inside the end line for a 25-23 victory in the second set for the Bobcats.
In the third set, Lamar jumped in front, 11-7, and did not relinquish the lead. The Bobcats clawed back to within two, 14-12, but could get no closer as the Cardinals went on a 4-1 run late in the stanza to win, 25-20.
The fourth set was all Texas State from the outset as the Bobcats went ahead 6-1 on a kill from Matti Schumacher. However, Lamar came back to make it interesting, tying the set at 16-16 before the Bobcats went on a 3-0 run, capped off by Schumacher's second kill of the set.
The Cardinals came back to tie the set again at 20-20, but Texas State received kills from Cave and Watlington down the stretch as the team went on a 5-2 run to close out the set, 25-22.
The deciding set featured runs by both teams as Lamar led, 7-4, before Texas State responded with a kill by Watlington and back-to-back kills from Cave and Alexander to tie the contest at 7-7. Lamar went on a 6-3 run to pull in front, 13-10, but a kill and ace from Cave sandwiched around a Cardinals' attack error tied the match at 13-13.
After a Lamar point, the race to 15 was extended to a race to 17 as Watlington fought off the first of three match points with a kill out of the middle to make it 14-14. Following a Lamar kill to make it, 15-14, Calhoun pounded her 10th kill of the match to even the score at 15-15.
A Lamar point gave the Cardinals their third opportunity at a match point, and Lamar unconventionally delivered on the opportunity. After a lengthy rally, the Bobcats got the ball to Calhoun in the middle, who tipped a ball over the Lamar block that nearly reached the floor before a diving Lamar defended popped the ball up and over the net that cleared all six Bobcat players before falling inside the end line for a point.
Lamar (7-8, 3-1 SLC) was led by a pair of middle blockers, Tina Hobbs and Jayme Bazile. Hobbs had a match-high 21 kills, while Bazile had 13 for the Cardinals.
Texas State returns to action on Saturday, October 2 when the Bobcats visit Lake Charles, La., for a matchup with McNeese State at 2 p.m.
