Box Score | Box Score (PDF)
Conway, Ark. – Texas State got past Northwestern State in four sets in its first match of the Southland Conference Tournament on Friday night at the Farris Center in Conway, Arkansas. The Bobcats downed the Lady Demons by scores of 25-14, 25-21, 22-25, 25-17.
Texas State advanced to the semifinals of the Southland Conference Tournament, which will be played on Saturday evening at 7:30 p.m. The Bobcats will take on No. 4 Central Arkansas, which beat No. 5 Lamar 3-1 in the nightcap on Friday.
In earlier action on Friday, No. 2 UTSA and No. 3 Sam Houston State each won and will play each other on Saturday in the other semifinal at 5:00 p.m.
The Bobcats defeated Lady Demons for the third time this season and ran their winning streak to eight matches behind a strong defensive performance. Southland Conference Player of the Year Amber Calhoun led all players with seven blocks (one solo, six assists) as she set a new career record for block assists at Texas State. The senior middle blocker now has 312 career block assists, one more than the previous record holder, Emily Jones Wilkes.
In addition to Calhoun, sophomore Ashlee Hilbun played a strong overall match, posting five blocks (two solo, three assists), eight digs and a career-high-tying 12 kills.
Junior Caleigh McCorquodale recorded 20 digs along with 34 assists, marking the third time this season that she has posted at least 20 digs. The setter also made it seven consecutive matches with a double-double with her performance Friday evening.
As a team, the Bobcats held a 13.0-8.0 advantage over the Lady Demons in blocks and a 73-57 advantage in digs.
Following a slow start to the match, the Bobcats found traction midway through the set to pull out to a large lead before closing out the set with an 11-point win. The team kept its momentum going from the opening set through much of the second before holding on for the 25-21 victory to go up 2-0 into match.
Northwestern State outlasted the Bobcats in the third set for a 25-22 win, but the Bobcats refocused in the fourth set to win going away, 25-17.
The win was the 31st all-time for the Bobcats during Southland Conference Tournament play. The team will go for win 32 on Saturday evening.
A radio broadcast of the Texas State semifinal action will be provided on www.TxStateBobcats.com, while additional live coverage – including video and live stats – will be provided by www.southland.org.
---
Quotes from head coach Karen Chisum
On Northwestern State…
Hats off to Northwestern State. They are scrappy and played well.
On the third set…
Maybe that's what we needed. The one versus eight game can be a trap game because the eighth seed has nothing to lose. We played better after that set.
On the Bobcats…
I thought our two middles did a great job tonight. We're exactly where we want to be. We're going to play tomorrow at 7:30.
