Box Score

MOBILE, Ala. – Texas State finished Friday night's match against South Alabama with more kills, a better hitting percentage and more assists, but still lost in the fifth five-set match the team has played in the last six matches. Service and receiving proved to be the downfall for the Bobcats in the loss to South Alabama, 3-2 (26-28, 25-18, 20-25, 25-23, 20-18).
 
Texas State finished with 13 service errors and 11 receiving errors while South Alabama had eight of each with 11 aces. The Bobcats notched eight aces with two from Sierra Smith. Smith also finished with a match high 26 digs.
 
Amari Deardorff led the team offensively with 17 kills to just three errors while Alexandra Simms caught fire in the back half of the match to finish with 15 kills and just two errors. Ashlee Hilbun added 10 kills while Molly Ahrens tallied nine.
 
Caylin Mahoney doubled up with 44 assists and 11 digs while freshmen Shelby Vas Matt and Kelsey Weynand combined for 22 digs. Ahrens led the team in blocks with a solo and two assists while Deardorff finished with two assists.
 
It was a rough start for Texas State as South Alabama tallied three aces in a 4-0 run to start the match. The Bobcats fell behind by as much as 9-2, but fought back to tie the first set at 14-14. Deardorff led the way with six kills while Hilbun put down three in the opening set.
 
Both teams put down three blocks, but Ahrens had a tone-setting solo block for Texas State's 23^rd point. It helped keep Texas State fighting until ultimately winning it, 28-26.
 
South Alabama answered back in the second set with a 25-18 win to tie the match, 1-1. The Bobcats dropped the second set despite leading in kills, 11-7. Unfortunately, Texas State was doomed by eight errors and a .094 hitting percentage in the set.
 
The Bobcats also struggled in serve/receive during the second set. South Alabama's Symone Stephenson served up four aces and three other Jaguars each had one for seven aces in the second set.
 
Texas State was in control most of the third set, hitting a match high .214 to that point. The Bobcats would improve with every set going from .214 to .311 and ending with a .385 percentage in the final set. Texas State and South Alabama had the same amount of kills in the third frame, but the Bobcats did it with three less errors, led by Deardorff's four errorless kills. Mahoney gave out 10 assists in the set while Sierra Smith tallied 13 digs in the third set alone.
 
The Bobcats used a 5-0 run with two kills by Hilbun and one from Mahoney to gain an advantage in the set.
 
Early in the third set, tied 4-4, Simms went off for the Bobcats with five consecutive kills. She received help from the team with a crafty attack from Mahoney to set up an overpass along with a diving dig from Smith. But the work of Simms put Texas State up, 9-5, early in the frame.
 
South Alabama would not go down easy though. The Jaguars roared back to tie the set, 10-10, and go up, 12-10, before a Texas State timeout. Simms continued her great play in the set with a kill and an ace to tie it back up, 12-12.
 
The Jaguars answered back with a run of their own to go up 18-14 before a Hilbun kill broke it. The fourth set proved to be one full of runs for each team as Texas State came back to pull within one, 19-18, but the Jaguars bounced back to push the lead to 22-18.
 
Mahoney broke a 4-0 run from South Alabama with a kill at the net. She had to use her strength to win a battle with the USA middle blocker. It seemed to spark the Bobcats as they rattled off two more points for a 3-0 run to force a timeout from South Alabama. Unfortunately, it would not be enough as the Jaguars went on to win the fourth set, 25-23, to force Texas State to a fifth set for the fifth time in the last six matches.
 
The fifth set continued the back and forth between the two teams, going to five extra points before South Alabama won, 20-18. Neither team could stack up more than two consecutive points in the early part of the set. Then, trailing 9-8, Texas State went on a 3-0 run capped by a kill from Ahrens.
 
That run seemed to turn the tide and helped the Bobcats get to match point first, 14-11. A South Alabama kill and two Texas State errors tied the set though and then it was a battle of match points, a battle the Jaguars eventually won.
 
Texas State will continue its road trip with a 12 p.m. match at Troy on Sunday before returning to San Marcos to host UT Arlington in Strahan Coliseum at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.