MOBILE, Ala. – Texas State and South Alabama came down to the very end with the Jaguars prevailing in a five-setter. The Bobcats fell, 3-2 (25-16, 20-25, 25-19, 13-25, 15-13), to drop to 13-11 on the season and 8-3 in Sun Belt Conference action.
 
The middle blockers were able to lead Texas State in the match with 13 kills for Madison Daigle and 11 for Morgan Lewis. Both were able to do it on strong hitting percentages of .333 and .375 respectively. Shelby Vas Matt added 10 kills.
 
Meanwhile, the setters split the work with 28 assists for Erin Hoppe and 24 for Emily Shelton. Shelton was able to provide a spark for the Bobcats in the back half of the match. Meanwhile, Sierra Smith finished with 22 digs while Lewis led the team in blocks with three.
 
In the first set, both teams were neck and neck to a 13-13 tie, but, at that point, South Alabama began to pull away. The Jaguars went on a 7-0 run before Vas Matt broke the run with a kill off the top of the block. South Alabama had three blocks in the run that gave the Jags a 20-13 lead that proved to be too much for the Bobcats to overcome in the opening frame.
 
Despite the tough offensive showing in the first set, Hoppe still gave out 12 assists while Vas Matt led the team in digs with four. No player on either team had more than three kills with two Bobcats reaching the mark in Vas Matt and Kelsey Weynand.
 
Texas State actually put down more kills in the set, 13-8, but had more errors, 8-2. Defensively, though, South Alabama's blocking was tough for the Bobcats to counter in the first set with the Jaguars holding a 6-1 advantage.
 
South Alabama used another big run in the second set to gain control. The Bobcats were up, 7-5, but USA went on a 5-0 run before Haley Henderson broke it with a kill crosscourt. There were two South Alabama blocks and two errors from Texas State in the run to help South Alabama go up, 10-7.
 
The Bobcats, however, used a 4-0 run of their own to regain control, going up, 12-11. After a kill from Lewis, Texas State benefitted from three consecutive South Alabama errors. Later, three more errors in a row from the Jaguars gave Texas State a 17-15 lead. After a USA score, the Bobcats went on another 3-0 run with kills from Daigle and Henderson followed by an ace from Vas Matt for a 20-16 lead. With that, the Bobcats were in control the rest of the way to tie the match, 1-1, after a 25-20 win in the second set.
 
Texas State again put up more kills than South Alabama, 12-7. A third of those kills came from Jordan Kohl with four in the set, but the Bobcats were also sparked by three kills from Henderson. The Bobcat offense was able to make up for a strong defense from South Alabama as the Jaguars again outblocked Texas State, 5-1.
 
The third set looked much like the first set with both teams keeping it tight early, playing to a 7-7 tie. From there, South Alabama scored four points in a row with two aces in the run to go up, 11-7, and force a Texas State timeout.
 
Later in the set, the Bobcats pulled within three, 13-10, and South Alabama answered with another run. This time, the Jaguars scored five consecutive for an 18-10 lead before Vas Matt broke the run. Despite a late 5-0 run for Texas State with two kills from Vas Matt, the lead for South Alabama was too much.
 
Despite the loss, Daigle did provide a bit of an offensive spark for the Bobcats late in the set. She put down three kills in the frame. Meanwhile, both Kohl and Vas Matt tallied four kills apiece in the set while Smith had six digs.
 
The Bobcats came out for the fourth set looking like a different team. With the set tied at 4-4 early, Texas State put together a 9-0 run for a 13-4 lead before South Alabama could answer again. The Bobcats put down two blocks in the run with kill from Lewis, Weynand and Shelton. At that point, the Bobcats were in complete control of the set and would continue to finish strong, taking it by a score of 25-13.
 
Texas State's middle blockers helped the Bobcats dominate the fourth with a combined nine kills from Lewis and Daigle. Vas Matt and Weynand added a combined five kills while Shelton gave out 12 assists. Shelton helped lead the offense to a .400 hitting percentage in the set with 16 kills and just two errors on 35 attempts.
 
The fifth set looked like much of the match as both teams battled back and forth throughout. With the match tied, 7-7, an error put the Bobcats up. Lauren Kirch put Texas State up two points with a kill on the next play, the first two-point lead for either team in the set. Unfortunately, South Alabama scored three consecutive to take a 10-9 lead and force a timeout from the Bobcats.
 
Weynand came out of the timeout to tie the set with a kill off the top of the block. The Jaguars, however, scored back-to-back points to reclaim the lead, 12-10, and force the final timeout from the Bobcats. Weynand and Lewis came out of the second timeout with consecutive kills to tie it at 12-12, but South Alabama again answered with back-to-back points to claim match point, 14-12. After a USA timeout, the Jaguars were able to end it with a kill from Mechell Daniel.
 
Texas State finally returns home for the team's first match at Strahan Coliseum since October 6. The Bobcats will host UL Monroe on Friday at 6:30 p.m. and follow with a match against Troy on Halloween Saturday at 6:30 p.m.