Logan, Utah – The Texas State volleyball team battled WAC-leading Utah State on its home floor on Wednesday evening but came up short in the team's regular season finale, falling in three sets (25-16, 25-19, 25-21) to the Aggies.

With the loss, Texas State dropped to 14-15 overall and finished its first and only season in the WAC with a 9-9 regular season mark. The Bobcats will have the No. 7 seed in next week's WAC Tournament with their opponent yet to be determined. Currently, three teams (UTSA, Idaho and New Mexico State) are tied for second place in the conference.

“The conference tournament is a new season for us,” said head coach Karen Chisum. “We have to be mentally tougher. We can be a very good team when we put it together; we just need to want to win badly.”

After a late spurt for the Aggies broke open a close first set to give the home team a 1-0 lead in the match, the Bobcats came out resilient in the second set and built a four-point lead midway through the period. Utah State chipped away until a four-point run gave them a 16-15 lead before pulling away for a 25-19 win to go up 2-0.

Utah State had things going in its favor early in the third set, helping the home team to a 6-2 lead before head coach Karen Chisum lit a fire in the Bobcats. The team came continued to chip away at its deficit until tying the match at 13-13 on a kill from Alexandra Simms. However, the WAC regular season champs regrouped and was able to pull away for the win on the team's Senior Night.

Ashlee Hilbun paced the offense with 10 kills while also adding five digs and a block.

Setter Caylin Mahoney played strong at the net, winning several jousts en route to eight kills on 16 attempts for a team-best .438 hitting percentage. The sophomore also tallied 11 assists and a block on the evening.

Freshman Morgan McDaniel was steady all match, finishing with nine kills and three digs, while Simms added six kills and a team-high three blocks.

Senior Caleigh McCorquodale finished with a team-high 15 assists and seven digs.

Utah State, the top blocking team in the WAC, put up a tough block and finished with 10 stuffs to go along with a .347 hitting percentage offensively for the match.

The next step for the Bobcats will be taking on the WAC Tournament that begins on Monday, November 19 in San Antonio. The team's first-round opponent will be known following the completion of the conference regular season on Thursday.

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