SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State volleyball team came from behind to defeat Louisiana 3-2 (23-25, 23-25, 25-20, 25-13, 15-8) Friday night in Sun Belt Conference action inside Strahan Coliseum.
 
The Bobcats (17-9, 10-1 SBC) lost the first two sets but rallied for the five-set victory to improve to 12-0 all-time against the Ragin' Cajuns (8-19, 4-6 SBC). The triumph was also the eighth in a row for the maroon and gold.
 
Senior Kelsey Weynand finished with 14 digs and 11 kills to notch the 15th double-double of her career. Junior Jaliyah Bolden had a match-high 17 kills, while senior Lauren Kirch hit .560 and finished with 15 kills, five digs and five blocks. Junior Erin Hoppe captained the offense with 48 assists and nine digs, and freshman Micah Dinwiddie registered 26 digs to pace the defense.
 
The visitors came out the aggressor in the early going and were able to build a 15-11 advantage midway through the opening set. Texas State battled back to an 18-18 draw, but Louisiana toughed out the 25-23 win to take the 1-0 lead.
 
The second set virtually mimicked the first, but this time the Ragin' Cajuns took a 19-14 lead before TXST was able to fight to a 23-23 standstill. UL captured the final two points to enter intermission with a sizable 2-0 advantage.
 
Texas State turned it up a notch in the third frame and initially held a 5-2 lead. Louisiana tied proceedings at 11-11 and was looking for the sweep, but the home side would have nothing of the sort as they pushed to a 19-13 advantage. The Ragin' Cajuns would not go down quietly, but they did fall 25-20 as the Bobcats got on the board.
 
The fourth set was all Texas State. The Bobcats lit up the scoreboard and used the raucous homecourt advantage to take an early 15-5 lead that ballooned to the final margin of 25-13.
 
TXST had all the momentum at that point and easily cruised to the 15-8 fifth-set triumph.
 
Nia Antoine led Louisiana with 13 kills, while Stacey Reilly added 15 digs and 11 kills of her own. Chloe Cordell (18) and Hannah Henry (10) picked up double-digit digs, and Jessica Bartczyszyn distributed 38 assists in the losing effort. 
 
Texas State led the night in kills (60-50), hitting percentage (.255-.116), aces (7-6) and blocks (9-4).
 
TXST is now 4-0 when matches go the distance during conference play this season. The Bobcats have had to rally in three of those four victories.
 
Next up for Texas State will be Senior Day for the Bobcats. The maroon and gold will play their final home game of the season at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 29 against UL Monroe. TXST will honor its seven seniors prior to the contest.
 
TEXAS STATE COACH KAREN CHISUM
Opening statement…
"We kicked it up to another gear when we needed it. That's the gear we have to play at the rest of the season. The first two sets I was thinking that we were in the same boat we've been in recently, except this time we lost them both. We've sort of just been coasting these last three or so matches, so it was a great comeback for us. This team needed that badly. We've had some lucky breaks recently, but the last three games that we played tonight was all skill. We turned it up."
 
On the biggest contributors to the victory…
"If I had a game ball, I might have to give it to Alex Silver. She made a huge difference when she came into the match late. Erin Hoppe probably set the best three games of her career. When she started setting Jaliyah (Bolden) and Lauren (Kirch) like we know she can, it changed the entire match around. When we were passing well, (Louisiana) couldn't stop us. We also started serving tougher. When (Louisiana) gets out of system, they tend to drop off a notch compared to when they're in their system. Our serve in games 3, 4 and 5 and our passing allowed us to go on the offensive."
 
-TxStateBobcats.com-