Box Score

SAN MARCOS, Texas – Texas State used a combined 33 kills from Amari Deardorff, Ashlee Hilbun and Shelby Vas Matt to bombard Baylor, 3-1 (25-15, 25-19, 20-25, 26-24) for Texas State's first victory against the Bears since Sept. 13, 1996. With the win, the Bobcats improved to 8-2 on the season in front of a spirited crowd at Strahan Coliseum.

Deardorff and Hilbun put up excellent percentages against Baylor with Deardorff finishing at .385 with 12 kills and Hilbun at .375 with 11 kills. Both players only had two errors in the four-set match. Middle blocker Molly Ahrens also hit for a good percentage, finishing with six kills on 12 attacks with just two errors for a .333 percentage.

Defensively, Texas State finished with 62 digs. Libero Sierra Smith and Kelsey Weynand both tallied 15 digs while Ali Hubicsak finished with 10. The strong back line forced Baylor to search for open space on the court, leading to 30 errors and a .141 hitting percentage for the Bears.

Texas State's balanced offense helped spread the Baylor defense all over the net while the Bears only saw production from two players: Zoe Adom and Thea Munch-Soegaard. Adom finished with a match-high 20 kills while Munch-Soegaard added 14.

The Texas State hitters owe the balanced production to the setting decisions from setter Caylin Mahoney. She gave out 37 assists in the match while adding five digs, two kills and a block.

The Bobcats started strong with a .440 hitting percentage in the first set while holding Baylor to a mere .091. Texas State only committed one error in the opening frame while notching 12 attacks on the way to a 25-15 win. The second set looked like much of the same as the Bobcats won, 25-19.

In the third set, Baylor bounced back, leading for most of the set until Texas State went up 14-13 on a kill from Deardorff. Both teams continued the back-and-forth action until Texas State gained an 18-16 lead on a block from Hilbun and Mahoney. The Bears, however, regrouped and went on a 9-2 run to close out the set with Adom notching three kills in the run.

The action in the fourth set brought out the volume in the crowd. Texas State jumped out to a 6-0 lead behind the service of Weynand. Baylor, however, battled back to tie the match, 12-12, on a Texas State error. Thanks to three BU errors, the Bobcats worked up a 17-14 lead and were able to hold it until Baylor tied it, 23-23, on a kill from Adom.

The Bears took the lead on the next point, but Texas State answered with a kill from Vas Matt to tie it at 24-24. A big block from Hilbun and Deardorff gave the Bobcats the lead, and then Deardorff finished the match with a kill.

Texas State will look to keep the momentum from an impressive win over a Big XII opponent as the Bobcats head to Tulsa, Okla. to face Northern Colorado, Tulsa and Arkansas this weekend.