SAN MARCOS, Texas – Texas State improved to 2-0 in Sun Belt Conference action with an outstanding sweep of the Ragin' Cajuns of UL Lafayette, 26-24, 25-17, 25-18. A number of Bobcats put up impressive numbers throughout the match for the Sunday victory to improve to 7-7 on the season.
Jordan Kohl led the team in kills with 18, just two shy of her career high. She did it with a .419 hitting percentage and put down 11 kills in the first set alone. Junior
Shelby Vas Matt hit .351 with 16 kills while freshman
Madison Daigle finished with 13 kills and a .500 hitting percentage. The hard-hitting trio proved to be too much for UL Lafayette to counter.
While Kohl was two kills shy of her career best, Daigle set a new career high in her first season with her 13 after posting 10 kills against Georgia State last match.
The Bobcats weren't just offense on Sunday though.
Sierra Smith finished with 23 digs in the three-set match for an eye-popping 7.67 dig per set average. It was just another match in what is becoming an outstanding season for the senior libero.
Setter
Erin Hoppe also had a great average as she gave out 40 assists in the match, good enough for a 13.3 assist per set average. She added nine digs, two service aces, two blocks and a kill. She gave out 15 assists in the opening frame and finished with 16 more in the third set.
It looked as if the Bobcats were in for a long day in the first set as Texas State had to survive UL Lafayette, 26-24. Texas State went down, 12-5, early then put together a 6-0 run with three kills from Kohl and one each from Vas Matt and Daigle. Behind that, the Bobcats pulled within one, 12-11.
Later, Texas State was able to tie the set, 17-17, on a Vas Matt kill. The Ragin' Cajuns came alive for a 3-0 run to build a late 20-17 lead and eventually pushed that to 24-21 for set point. The Bobcats, cool under pressure, rattled off five consecutive points with four consecutive kills from Kohl to clinch the opening set.
Kohl put down 11 kills in the opening set while Smith kept the Bobcats in it with 12 digs. Hoppe gave out 15 assist in the frame.
As the Bobcats went to the second set, they had to adjust to the ULL block. Texas State struggled with UL Lafayette's blocking in the first set as the Ragin' Cajuns put down five, but the Bobcats would not be blocked the rest of the match and turned up the defense on their own side. Texas State held UL Lafayette to just nine kills with six errors for a .081 hitting percentage in the second set while the Bobcats scored on 14 kills en route to a 25-17 win.
Vas Matt did her best Kohl impression with seven kills in the frame and just one error for a .375 hitting percentage in the second set while Smith kept racking up digs with seven in the set.
The Bobcats put on their most impressive performance in the final set to clinch the match. As a team, Texas State put down 18 kills with just five errors on 39 attempts for a .333 hitting percentage. While both Kohl and Vas Matt had five kills in the final set, Daigle put down seven kills. Hoppe gave out her 16 assists while Smith got help devensively with five digs from
Ali Hubicsak, four from Vas Matt and four combined from
Haley Henderson and
Alex Silver.
Next, the Bobcats will take to the road for matches at Georgia State and Appalachian State this weekend. Texas State will face Georgia State in Atlanta at 5 p.m. CST, 6 p.m. EST, on Thursday followed by a match in Boone, N.C., against Appalachian State at 5:30 p.m. CST, 6:30 p.m. EST, on Saturday.
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