HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Texas State put on a strong performance with a 3-0 sweep of Sam Houston State Tuesday night (26-24, 25-23, 25-17). It was the best way for the Bobcats to head into the conference season against Georgia State on Friday at 6 p.m. The Bobcats now stand at 5-7 on the season as conference play approaches.
 
Shelby Vas Matt stood out with a match-high 12 kills, one short of her season-high. She exploded with eight kills in the second set to keep the Bobcats on top of a close, pivotal set. In the first set, it was Jordan Kohl who led the Bobcats with five kills. She finished with nine on the night.
 
Sierra Smith played an efficient match on the back line, averaging 5.67 digs per set with 17 digs on the night. She had six digs in each of the second and third sets. Erin Hoppe also put on a strong performance with 26 assists, five blocks, two back-breaking kills in the third frame and two aces.
 
The Bobcats were tough defensively with Ali Hubicsak adding 10 digs and Morgan Lewis adding five block assists and a solo. She did most of that work in the opening set to help the Bobcats edge out a 26-24 set. Freshman Madison Daigle added three more blocks as the Bobcats finished with a 9-2 blocking advantage.
 
Texas State set the tone for a hard fought match early. In a back-and-forth opening set, the Bobcats found themselves down, 24-21, with set point to Sam Houston State. Texas State fought back to win the set, 26-24 with five consecutive points.
 
Lewis and Vas Matt hit consecutive kills, and Texas State followed that with a block from Lewis and Hoppe to tie the set at 24-24. After that, Lewis wouldn't let up as she put down another kill, one of three for her in the opening frame. With the Bobcats at set point, Lewis and Vas Matt teamed up again, this time for a block, to give Texas State a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
Kohl had five errorless kills in the opening frame while Hoppe gave out nine assists. Smith had five digs, and Lewis was in on all five first-set blocks from Texas State.
 
The second set wasn't much different with both teams jockeying back and forth throughout the whole frame. But Vas Matt exploded for eight kills in the set to pace the Bobcats. Fittingly, with a 24-23 lead, it was Vas Matt who put down the final kill of the frame to put the Bobcats up, 2-0, in the match. Both Smith and Hubicsak combined for 11 of Texas State's 18 digs in the second set to help keep Sam Houston State off balance while Hoppe gave out 10 assists.
 
In the third frame, Texas State ran away with the match. Sam Houston State lost major contributor Jordyn Vaughn, and it proved to be too much for the Bearkats to overcome. The Bobcats put down 10 kills in the set, but Sam Houston State committed 12 errors in the final frame to hand it over to the Bobcats.
 
Next up for Texas State will be the start to the Sun Belt Conference season at home against Georgia State at 6 p.m. Friday followed by a match against UL Lafayette at 12 p.m. on Sunday.