Box Score

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – On an impressive night for Texas State, the Bobcats improved to 10-5 on the season with a five-set win over UTSA (21-25, 25-22, 25-23, 16-25, 15-10) Friday. Ashlee Hilbun hit for a career high 24 kills on a .548 hitting percentage while Caylin Mahoney tallied a triple double in the victory.
 
For the second meeting in a row between the rivals, the match went the full five sets. Texas State dropped the opening set but rebounded for the second and third sets. After switching setters and switching again, UTSA found a groove in the fourth set for a big 25-16 win. The Roadrunners couldn't keep the momentum as they hit for seven errors in the final set. The Bobcats took advantage to head into conference play off a win.
 
Mahoney finished with 10 errorless kills on a .625 hitting percentage, 52 assists and 10 digs. Meanwhile, Hilbun obliterated her career high in kills with 24, eight more kills than her previous high. Freshman Shelby Vas Matt came alive for a double-double with 12 digs and 13 kills, including the final point of the match. Amari Deardorff added 10 more kills as the Bobcats finished with 71 on the night.
 
Defensively, Texas State put up six blocks and bothered UTSA's best player McKenzie Adams most of the night. Hilbun was in on three blocks while three others were in on two. Alexandra Simms added a solo block while Sierra Smith led the team in digs, finishing with 16 and helped keep Adams off balance.
 
Hilbun led the Bobcats through the first set with four kills on eight attacks and only one error. Meanwhile, Mahoney put down three kills with nine assists and five digs. But defending Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year Adams led all players with six kills in the set. The Bobcats, however, forced her into four errors as well.
 
Texas State bounced back in the second set to tie the match, 1-1. Hilbun again led the Bobcats, this time notching six kills in the set. Simms put down five kills in the set and Deardorff followed suit with five of her own, including the final point of the set.
 
With just a one-point lead in the second set, 17-16, the Bobcats pushed forward with a 5-0 run punctuated by kills from Simms and Hilbun and a block by Mahoney and Hilbun. After the block, UTSA needed a timeout, but it wouldn't calm the Bobcats down on their way to a second set win.
 
The Bobcats only had four errors as a team in the second set, finishing the frame hitting .317 after a .128 opening set. Texas State followed that with an even better .319 in the third set.
 
In the third set, Texas State showed some resiliency, coming back from a 21-16 deficit to gain a 2-1 lead in the match. Hilbun was on fire with seven kills in the set. Vas Matt also tallied seven kills in the frame to boost her percentage to .412 up to that point and help the Bobcats battle back to win the set, 25-23.
 
The other Texas State catalyst in the third set was Mahoney, who had four kills with most of them coming in the comeback.
 
Texas State's strong defense frustrated UTSA, especially early in the fourth set. The Roadrunners continued to switch from senior setter Brandy Huskey to freshman Jessica Waldrip and vice versa. After struggling to generate offense, Huskey seemed to lead the Roadrunners in the right direction as they forced a fifth set with a 25-16 win in the fourth.
 
Both teams combined for an outstanding fifth set. The teams jockeyed back and forth until the Bobcats finally gained a three-point advantage, 9-6 on three consecutive UTSA errors. Texas State snagged the momentum at that point and refused to look back on the way to victory. Vas Matt was able to put away the final point on a blown block by UTSA.
 
Texas State will take the week off from competition and return to action in the university's first ever Sun Belt Conference event when the Bobcats host Louisiana-Lafayette at 6:30 p.m. Friday. After that, Texas State will continue with the conference slate in a home match against Louisiana-Monroe at 1 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 29.