Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

DENTON, Texas – Texas State Volleyball started strong with a sweep of Prairie View A&M (25-17, 25-9, 25-17) in the first match of Saturday, but fell in a thrilling four-set match against host North Texas (25-23, 23-25, 25-23, 26-24) in the tournament finale.

Amari Deardorff and Caylin Mahoney put on All-Tournament performances over the weekend to provide bright spots for Texas State on the 2-2 weekend. Deardorff's weekend was highlighted by 22 kills against UNT to lead all players while Mahoney finished with 44 assists and 17 digs in the match.

The Bobcats started the day on fire with Deardorff hitting five kills on a .500 hitting percentage and Ashlee Hilbun adding three kills on a .400 percentage in the opening set of the day. In addition to the efficient offense, the Texas State defense held Prairie View A&M to a .000 hitting percentage in the first set.

Texas State kept the pressure on in the second set with Shelby Vas Matt putting down four kills and Hilbun adding three more. As a team, the Bobcats hit an outstanding .391 in the second set, notching 13 kills on 23 attacks with four errors. Meanwhile, the defense only allowed two kills in the set while keeping the Lady Panthers at a .000 hitting percentage.

The Bobcats continued their impressive performance into the third set, finishing the match with a .315 team hitting percentage while holding the Lady Panthers to just a .036. Hilbun led all players in kills with 10 on a .692 percentage while Vas Matt finished with nine kills. Mahoney gave out 24 assists with five digs and four kills while libero Sierra Smith led the team in digs with 11. Ahrens patrolled the net to finish with four block assists and a solo.

Against North Texas, the Bobcats had a tougher start. Texas State dropped the first set, being outblocked, 8-2. However, Deardorff tallied six kills in the set.

After falling in the first set, the resilient Maroon and Gold bounced back in the second. Deardorff and Vas Matt had carried the Bobcats to start. At one point, the duo had 18 of the 25 Texas State kills in the match, but Hilbun got in on the action in, finishing the second set with six kills and no errors on nine attacks.

Texas State continued to struggle against the Mean Green block, being outblocked, 11-3, in the first two sets. However, the Bobcats were hustling after digs, holding a 31-26 advantage and forcing a .172 hitting percentage out of North Texas at that point.

The Bobcats improved their own hitting percentage in the second set, jumping from .111 in the first to .208 in the second, and actually finishing the second set with more kills than UNT, 33-27.

Both teams combined to make the third set just as exciting as the first two with the third consecutive set ending in a 25-23 score. Unfortunately, it didn't go Texas State's way, despite the Bobcats leading 20-17 and 22-21. Deardorff still kept coming after the Mean Green though as well as Hilbun who made it work on the slide most of the night.

Hilbun finished the match with 14 kills after North Texas outlasted the Bobcats in the fourth set. She tallied a .520 hitting percentage while Deardorff led all players with 22 kills. Smith led all players with 21 digs while Mahoney finished with 17 and Vas Matt chipped in 12.

Texas State returns to San Marcos to host Baylor at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Strahan Coliseum. After that, the Bobcats will travel to Tulsa, Okla., over the weekend to face Northern Colorado, Tulsa and Arkansas at the Golden Hurricane Classic.