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San Marcos, Texas – Texas State became the most recent Southland Conference victim for Houston Baptist on Thursday night as the Huskies defeated the Bobcats, 3-2, in game one of the CenturyLink Premier at Strahan Coliseum.

The Bobcats evened their record at 4-4 on the season, while Houston Baptist improved to 7-2 overall and 4-0 this season against Southland opponents. The Huskies have also defeated Lamar, Sam Houston State and UTSA thus far in 2011.

Statistically, Texas State out-performed Houston Baptist in nearly all facets of the game; however, errors at crucial moments in the match proved costly for the Bobcats.

Offensively, Texas State held a .273-.203 advantage in hitting percentage, a 66-60 advantage in kills and a 60-55 advantage in assists. On the defensive end, the Bobcats recorded an 8-7 advantage in blocks and a 76-68 advantage in digs. But the team was also not helped by finishing with 13 service errors, four net violations and four ball-handling errors on the evening.

The two teams played very evenly through the first two sets with neither team taking more than a four-point advantage in either period. Houston Baptist edged out a two-point victory in the opening set, 25-23, before Texas State sophomore Amari Deardorff recorded a pair of big kills down the stretch of the second set as part of a four-point run and 25-21 second set win for Texas State.

The Huskies looked to have the upper-hand in the third set, taking a 19-16 lead late in the period. However, the Bobcats went on a 7-3 run to move in front 23-22 lead after a service error on Houston Baptist. The lead changed hands once again as the visitors benefited from three Bobcat attack errors over the final three points to take the set, 25-23.

The fourth set was the most lopsided of the night thanks to inspired play off the bench from freshmen Casey Heising and Amy Bremer. Heising put down four kills, while Bremer dished out 10 assists as the Bobcats cruised to a 25-19 win.

The Huskies stopped the momentum from Texas State's fourth set victory early in the fifth set, going on a 5-0 run to begin the frame. The Bobcats put together a 6-2 run after a timeout from head coach Karen Chisum to pull within one, 7-6, but that is as close as the team would get with Houston Baptist closing out the set on an 8-5 run to seal their seventh win of the season.

Deardorff led the offense with 16 kills and a .469 hitting percentage, while sophomore Ashlee Hilbun also had a good match on the offensive end, putting down 12 kills with a .348 hitting percentage.

Freshman Laura Whalen extended her streak of double-digit digs performances to eight matches with a team-high 22 saves, while senior Rachel Doyle tied her career high with 14 digs.