STATESBORO, Ga. – Texas State played 13 student-athletes in Friday's Sun Belt Conference Championship Tournament match, and all contributed to the 3-1 first-round victory over No. 6 South Alabama (18-25, 25-14, 25-23, 25-19). After dropping the first set, the Bobcats came back to win three consecutive sets behind the offense of Kelsey Weynand, Lauren Kirch and Jordan Kohl and a great setting match from Erin Hoppe. The win will put No. 3 Texas State against No. 2 Appalachian State at 3 p.m. CST / 4 p.m. EST on Saturday.
 Despite not entering the match until late in the first set, Kirch was outstanding in the win, playing her best match of the season. She tallied 16 kills and just one error for a .517 hitting percentage while adding three blocks, one of which was solo. She closed out the match strong with an eye-popping seven kills in the final set.
 
Weynand, meanwhile, doubled up for her fifth double-double of the season. She finished with 17 kills and 18 digs to lead Texas State in both categories. Kohl was even more efficient than Weynand and Kirch as she put down 14 kills, but did it on an impressive .565 hitting percentage.
 
Hoppe was a big reason those three athletes could put together the matches they did. She gave out 54 assists in the four-set match for an average of 13.25 assists per set after giving out 10 in the opening frame, she tallied 44 in just three sets. She led the team to a hitting percentage of .316 in the match with a .538 in the second set and a .357 in the final set when she gave out 17 assists.
 
Hoppe added eight digs and two blocks while Sierra Smith finished with 14 digs and four assists. Madison Daigle, fresh off her All-Conference nod, led the team in blocks with four in the match while adding eight kills. In addition to Daigle, Kirch and Hoppe, Kohl was another Bobcat with multiple blocks, putting down three to help Texas State outblock South Alabama, 8-5.
 
To start the first set, the Bobcats scored the first two points, the first coming on a block from Kohl and Morgan Lewis. But, unfortunately, a short time later the Jaguars went on a 5-0 run and added a 4-0 run moments later to gain a 14-8 lead. The Bobcats couldn't come back from that, dropping the set, 25-18.
 
Texas State's defense gave up a .349 hitting percentage to South Alabama in the opening set while only hitting .176, but Weynand had a strong start with five kills on a .400 hitting percentage and eight digs. In the second set, the rest of the Bobcats joined Weynand to help Texas State flip the script.
 
The Bobcats hit .538 in the second frame while holding South Alabama to just a .121. Texas State spread the ball around a bit. Kirch came in to provide a big spark for the Bobcats with four kills on just six attempts in the second set. She also put down her two block assists and an emphatic solo block in the frame.
 
Joining Kirch was Kohl, adding four more kills in the frame without an error. Meanwhile, Hoppe gave out 13 assists while adding four digs and two block assists.
 
Texas State started the second set on a 5-1 run and put together another one a short time later to go up 10-4. After that, South Alabama never got closer than six points as the Bobcats evened the match with a 25-14 win in the second set.
 
In the third set, Weynand put down five kills again while Kohl and Kirch combined for seven more kills. Hoppe gave out 14 assists while Daigle stymied the South Alabama offense with three blocks.
 
The Bobcats would need every point they could get in the third set as both teams played an even match. Texas State started on a 4-1 run, but both teams stayed within two points of each other most of the way. When the Jaguars went up, 13-11, the Bobcats heated up to go on a 5-1 run to regain the lead, 16-14. South Alabama would tie the set at 17-17, but Texas State never trailed after that, winning with a Daigle kill to clinch it.
 
South Alabama started out on a 3-1 run, but, after trading points, Texas State went on a 9-1 run for an 11-5 lead. From there, it was just a matter of time as the Bobcats pushed the lead to 18-10. The Jaguars did make a furious comeback to pull within two, 21-19, but the Bobcats collected their thoughts in a timeout. After that, Texas State scored four straight points with a South Alabama error and kills from Weynand, Kohl and Daigle to punch the team's ticket to the Sun Belt Conference Championship's semifinal round.
 
Texas State will face off against No. 2 Appalachian State at 3 p.m. CST / 4 p.m. EST on Saturday in Statesboro, Ga. The teams have only met once this season, but it came early in the year and in Boone, N.C. The Mountaineers won that match. The Bobcats are 2-2 all-time against Appalachian State.




Chisum Quarterfinal Press Conference






 

Good luck @TexasStateVball on the next round! Good Job!@MorganLewis19 — Agnes Fisher (@MamaFisher1920) November 20, 2015	Haha go Si! @SierraMistttttt https://t.co/VQE1mj6I2M — Ali Gonzaless (@AliAurora4) November 20, 2015
I guess the star is just going to have to stay lit. ¯\_(?)_/¯ https://t.co/0YZ0gNkraU — Brant Freeman (@Brant_Freeman) November 20, 2015	@TexasStateVball defeats @USA_Jags_VB 3 sets to 1 and advances to Saturday's semifinals. They will face @AppStateVB tomorrow at 4PM ET. — Sun Belt Conference (@SunBelt) November 20, 2015