Box Score

MONROE, La. – Texas State grabbed sole possession of third place in the Sun Belt Conference and eliminated the Warhawks of ULM from postseason play with a dominating 3-0 sweep (25-20, 25-13, 25-15) Friday night. Caylin Mahoney averaged 10 assists per set, finishing with 30 assists and 13 digs for the double-double. She also had two block assists and six kills without an error for a .462 hitting percentage.
 
Mahoney was a big reason why the Bobcats finished the night with a .299 team hitting percentage as opposed to a mere .092 for ULM. She distributed the ball well to give Amari Deardorff nine kills and three others with seven.
 
Deardorff's nine kills came with just one error for a .444 hitting percentage while Ashlee Hilbun, Shelby Vas Matt and Alexandra Simms all had seven kills each. Vas Matt did it without an error for a .350 percentage while Hilbun only had one error on 17 attempts for a .353 hitting percentage.
 
As usual, libero Sierra Smith led the team in digs with 14 but received a little help with Mahoney's 13, Vas Matt's seven, six from Kelsey Weynand, Hilbun's five and four from Ali Hubicsak.
 
At the net, Texas State outblocked the Warhawks, 6.5 to 3. Hilbun was impressive defensively with two solo blocks and three block assists. Molly Ahrens added a solo block with four kills while three others registered at least a block assists.
 
Texas State started the match with the first point on an Ahrens slide, but from there both teams played a pretty even opening set. The teams jockeyed for position the whole set until Texas State started to pull away in the twenties.
 
Hilbun led the team with four errorless kills while Deardorff and Mahoney each added three. The Bobcats hit .250 in the first set with just three errors while ULM's nine errors led to a .100 hitting percentage.
 
The second set was a much different story as Texas State built a 14-7 lead early in the second set. The Bobcats increased it to a 21-11 lead before claiming a 2-0 lead with a 25-13 win in the second set. Simms led Texas State in the second frame with four kills while Hilbun and Vas Matt each added three more kills.
 
Through two sets Mahoney was on fire, averaging 11.5 assists per set with 23 in the first two frames. She helped Texas State hit an outstanding .429 as a team in the second set with 14 kills and just two errors on 28 attempts.
 
The third set started the same for Texas State as the Bobcats again built up a 14-7 lead and continued to dominate until capping the match with a 25-15 win. Texas State's defense held ULM to just a .095 hitting percentage in the final set while hitting .257 as a team with just three errors.
 
With both UT Arlington and Louisiana falling Friday night, the Bobcats moved into sole possession of third place in the SBC and will look to improve upon their 9-6 conference record Sunday at 1 p.m. against Louisiana.