STATESBORO, Ga. – With one of the most efficient performances of the season, Texas State swept Georgia Southern, 25-14, 25-15, 25-22, on the road in the last regular season match of the season Saturday. Now at 20-12 and 15-5 in the Sun Belt Conference, Texas State can claim the second seed in the SBC Championship Tournament with an Arkansas State loss to UALR. If Arkansas State wins, the Bobcats can only fall as far as the third seed.
 
Jordan Kohl led all players with 11 kills on an impressive .391 hitting percentage. Shelby Vas Matt followed suit with 10 more kills (.280), and Brooke Smith finished with seven kills and just one error to hit .545. The team was efficient, hitting .314 as a squad and finishing off the match with an outstanding .351 in the third frame. It was Texas State's third highest team hitting percentage of the season. The Bobcats only had nine errors to 41 kills on 102 attempts.
 
In addition to the efficient offensive performance, the Bobcats put up one of their best defensive performances of the season as well with 13 blocks in a three-set match. It's second to a 14-block performance in a four-set match at South Alabama.
 
Lauren Kirch led the team with seven blocks, one of which was a solo. Smith added six blocks with a solo, and Caylin Mahoney was in on five blocks. Mahoney added six kills, six digs, two service aces and 31 assists in the match. Sierra Smith led the team in digs with eight while Jordan Moore and Mahoney were second on the team with six apiece.
 
The Bobcats came out to start the match strong, scoring the team's first two points with blocks, including a solo from Brooke Smith. Texas State continued to apply the pressure, building a four-point lead, 11-7, to force an early timeout from Georgia Southern. Out of the timeout, the Bobcats pushed the lead up to 15-8, and eventually claimed a 21-12 lead before the Eagles needed another timeout in the opening frame.
 
Texas State would go on to win the opening set, 25-14, led by Vas Matt and her five kills. Mahoney proved to be an offensive threat early with three kills in the first frame. Kohl added three and Smith pitched in two more kills. Mahoney gave out eight assists while the Bobcats finished with three blocks in the opening frame.
 
Georgia Southern and the Bobcats jockeyed back and forth to start the second set, but Texas State began to pull away with strong blocking at the net and good service. Mahoney served up her second ace of the match after one from Sierra Smith, and the Bobcats had three more blocks early in the second set to grab a 13-9 lead.
 
The Bobcats would continue to pile on, winning the second set, 25-15. Texas State put down six blocks in the second frame alone and hit .290 with 12 kills and just three errors on 31 attempts. Kohl led Texas State in the set with five kills while Mahoney gave out eight more assists in the second set. Kirch led the blocking effort in the second set with a solo block and four block assists.
 
Georgia Southern came out of the break and built a four-point lead, 10-6. Texas State, however, would climb back into the match with consecutive kills from Alexandra Simms. Brooke Smith followed with a kill on an Eagle overpass to pull the Bobcats within one point, 10-9.
 
The Eagles regained control of the third set to go up 18-13 and force a timeout from the Bobcats. Out of the timeout, Texas State scored three consecutive points, but Georgia Southern answered to go up 20-16.
 
From there, though, the Bobcats came storming back. The Eagles committed errors around a Simms kill to bring Texas State within one point, 20-19. After that, Simms and Smith teamed up for a block and Kirch followed that with a service ace to claim a 21-20 Texas State lead.
 
Both teams jostled back and forth at that point to a 22-22 tie, but then Texas State pulled away to clinch the match. A kill from Kohl, her match-high 11^th of the day, followed by a Kohl and Smith block gave Texas State match point, 24-22. Vas Matt scored the final point with her 10^th kill to give Texas State the third set, 25-22.
 
Texas State returns home to begin preparation for the Sun Belt Conference Championship Tournament to begin Thursday in San Marcos. The Bobcats will play in the final match of the opening round at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, but the tournament begins at 12 p.m. at Strahan Coliseum Thursday afternoon.



 

"@TexasStateVball: BLOCK! Simms @AlexSimms7 gets in on the action with B.Smith @Smith15_Brooke for a 14-9 lead in the second set" ?? — ?sarita (@sarita_ysabella) November 22, 2014

Good luck @TexasStateVball #TXST #EatEmUpCats — Fastbreak Club (@fastbreak_club) November 22, 2014