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Dallas, Texas – The Texas State volleyball team played its final preconference tournament match of the season on Saturday morning at the SMU Doubletree Invitational as the Bobcats fell to Wichita State, 3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-17) to finish the tournament with a 1-2 record.
The Bobcats dropped the first match of the tournament against Auburn before sweeping tournament-host SMU on Friday.
With the loss, Texas State fell to 5-6 overall, while Wichita State improved to 6-3.
Sophomore outside hitter Alexandra Simms was named to the all-tournament team for the second weekend in a row. Simms hit over .300 in each of the team's three matches for the weekend and led the team in kills against both SMU and Wichita State.
The Bobcats jumped out to an early lead in the opening set with a 7-2 advantage, but the Shockers answered with a 7-2 run of their own to tie the match at 9-9. The teams played evenly through the middle stages of the set with 10 tie scores and three lead changes, but the Shocker offense clicked down the stretch as the Bobcats dropped the opening set, 25-19. Wichita State hit .343 in set one despite three blocks for Texas State.
The second set was another back-and-forth affair with 13 tie scores and neither team gaining much separation until a 4-0 run by Wichita State late in the period turned an 18-18 score into a 22-18 advantage for the Shockers. Texas State was able to stop the run with kills from Amari Deardorff and Simms and pull within two, 24-22, but the Shockers did enough to close out the set, 25-22.
Wichita State began quickly in the third set and never let the Bobcats back in as the Shockers never trailed and went on to win by eight. A pair of blocks from Molly Ahrens helped bring the team back to within five, 18-13, but Wichita State closed out the match on a 7-4 run to end the match.
Simms led the Bobcats with 12 kills and a .308 hitting percentage for the match, while Deardorff finished with eight kills and a .278 hitting percentage. Caleigh McCorquodale led the team with 17 assists, while Laura Whalen paced the back row with 10 digs.
Texas State will now set its sights on its first-ever WAC match when the Bobcats welcome San Jose State to Strahan Coliseum on Thursday, September 13 for a 6:30 p.m. match. Tickets are available and can be purchased by visiting www.TxStateBobcats.com/tickets.
