Box Score

TROY, Ala. – Texas State beat UT Arlington for a conference championship in 1991 and 1998, and now the Bobcats have done it again with a 3-0 sweep of the Mavericks (27-25, 25-19, 25-22) for the 2013 Sun Belt Conference Tournament Championship. The win secures Texas State a spot in the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship Tournament and makes nine conference tournament championships for the team. It is the first SBC Championship for Texas State athletics.
 
The Bobcats are the first newcomer to win the Sun Belt Volleyball Championship in its first year since Arkansas State won the 1991 tournament.
 
After storming past Louisiana and Arkansas State in the first two rounds, Texas State kept the momentum going with an impressive sweep over UTA Saturday. Amari Deardorff was outstanding, hitting a match-high 17 kills without an error for a .680 hitting percentage.
 
Caylin Mahoney set Deardorff up all day and spread the ball around for 38 assists. As an offensive threat she put down eight kills with just two errors and added five digs and an ace. Meanwhile, Ashlee Hilbun notched 10 kills with an ace, eight digs and three blocks.
 
The trio was named to the Sun Belt Conference All-Tournament Team with Mahoney taking Most Outstanding Player honors. She averaged 11.6 assists per set, finishing the tournament with 116 assists, 26 digs, 19 kills and 10 blocks.
 


Alexandra Simms, who hit the best percentage against the Mavericks in the regular season, continued her success against UTA with 12 kills. Meanwhile, Sierra Smith tallied seven digs to pull within two of Texas State's all-time record in digs. She'll have the opportunity to break the record in Texas State's next match in the NCAA Tournament. Molly Ahrens will also have an opportunity to move up the record book as she is just one block assist shy of the second most block assists ever in a Texas State season. She currently has 130.
 
Kelsey Weynand and Ali Hubicsak both matched Hilbun's eight digs to lead the team. As good as Texas State's defense was with four blocks and 44 digs, the team's offense was outstanding. As a team, the Bobcats hit .315.
 
Thanks in large part to Mahoney and efficient Texas State hitters, the Bobcats kept UTA middle blocker Charmaine Whitmore, the leading blocker in the country, off balance and limited her to just two block assists in the match.


 
The first set was the toughest hurdle for Texas State as each team traded points on the way to extra points in the set. Finally, tied 25-25, Simms put down a kill and Mahoney followed with an ace for the 27-25 win.
 
Down 4-2 in the second set the Bobcats scored four in a row behind Smith's service. Two kills from Deardorff on each side of two UTA errors gave Texas State a 6-4 lead. Two more runs of three points each gave the Bobcats a 19-13 lead but the Mavericks stormed back on a 5-0 run and pulled within one, 20-19.
 
Texas State closed out strong though with five consecutive points of its own. Simms put down a kill followed by one from Mahoney. After two errors from UT Arlington, Mahoney scored the final point of the set with another kill, 25-19.
 
UT Arlington probably played the team's most resilient set in the third. The Bobcats went up 8-2 and kept a healthy cushion through most of the final set. The Mavericks, however, stormed back to pull within one, 21-20. UT Arlington would make it a two-point set twice more in the twenties but with Texas State leading 24-22 Mahoney set Deardorff for a monster kill to end the match and claim the championship.
 
The Bobcats await the Dec. 1 2013 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship selection show to learn their fate for the tournament. The show will be aired on ESPNU at 8:30 p.m. The tournament will begin Dec.5 and Dec. 6 depending on where Texas State is scheduled to play. The Bobcats will also learn their host site for the First and Second round during the selection show. Continue to follow www.txstatebobcats.com for information on the tournament leading up to it.