ARLINGTON, Texas – The Texas State volleyball team lost 3-1 (23-25, 25-20, 25-19, 25-13) to Coastal Carolina in the semifinals of the 2016 Sun Belt Conference Championship Saturday evening inside College Park Center.
 
The Bobcats, seeded No. 3 in the tournament, saw their season end at 21-12. The No. 2 seeded Chanticleers (26-4) won their 16th-straight match and will play in the finals of the league tournament Nov. 20.
 
Junior Jaliyah Bolden posted a match- and career-high 21 kills on a .425 attack percentage. She outplayed CCU's Leah Hardeman, the SBC Player of the Year, who finished with 20 kills on just a .390 hitting percentage.
 
Junior Erin Hoppe recorded her seventh double-double of the season after finishing with a match-high 44 assists and 10 digs. Senior Kelsey Weynand ended her career with 15 digs and eight kills.
 
Texas State was able to claim the first set 25-23, which snapped a streak of 32-straight set victories for the Chanticleers. They entered Saturday's match having won their last 10 matches by identical 3-0 margins before dropping the opening set to the Bobcats. They have now lost just six sets against league opposition all season, but two have come at the hands of the maroon and gold.
 
CCU grabbed an early 5-1 lead in the opening set, but TXST was able to power into an 11-8 advantage of its own with the help of three-consecutive service aces by senior Ali Hubicsak. After Coastal Carolina tied the match at 12-12, neither side led by more than two until the Bobcats scored three in a row to pull away at 22-19. The Chanticleers climbed back to within one at 23-22, but the two teams exchanged sideouts the rest of the way with the set capped off by a dominant kill from Bolden.

Coastal Carolina sent the two teams into the locker room deadlocked at 1-1 by capturing the second set 25-20. The Chanticleers had all cylinders firing as they initially found themselves ahead 17-9. Texas State countered with a 9-0 run that saw the Bobcats take an 18-17 advantage. The two teams played to a 19-19 draw, and CCU closed on a 6-1 run to tie proceedings.
 
CCU went ahead 2-1 overall by winning set three 25-19. Texas State started strong by taking a 7-4 lead and found itself on top 10-8. Coastal Carolina then went up 14-10 on the strength of a 6-0 run, but the Bobcats were able to get back within one at 18-17. The closing moments in the third went in favor of CCU as the Chanticleers scored seven of the last nine points.
 
CCU jumped on top 8-3 in the fourth set and was able to close out the Bobcats in four sets. The Chanticleers were able to extend their lead to 15-5 and captured the frame 25-13.
 
Tahleia Bishop (16) and Annayka Legros (10) added double-digit kills for the Chanticleers. Sara Boothe (30) and Kate Federico (17) each notched double-figure assists, and Carla Cahill finished with a match-high 19 digs.
 
CCU had narrow advantages in kills (57-52), attack percentage (.313-.245), assists (54-48), aces (9-4), digs (59-50), and blocks (10-7).
 
TEXAS STATE COACH KAREN CHISUM
Opening statement…
"Jaliyah Bolden and Lauren Kirch played well this weekend. The first three games were nip and tuck. We competed, it was fun. We broke down our passing, which struggled tonight. But against a good team like that everybody has to be at their best. All six, at one time, or at least the last two times, wasn't there. I thought we played pretty well. Hats off to Jaliyah and Lauren. Ali Hubicsak was the heart-and-sole of our team this year. She brought us back, I know in games one and two from being down several points with her serve. We told them before we have to serve tough. We wanted to take (Leah Hardeman) out of the offense. If they pass it, it's going to (Annayka Legros) or (Leah Hardeman). That's why you have to serve tough. Again, it was just the mental, physical, as it grew longer. They got better and we didn't. We talk to them all the time about opponents, anybody, when you are pushed, you have to push back and go to that next level. In the fourth game we didn't. I made some subs, kids that are coming back that needed the experience."
 
On the season and what the seniors have meant to program…
"(It was a) Good season. Anytime you win 21 matches, that is a pretty darn good season. There is nothing I can say right now to help those seniors (feel better). They hurt. They are disappointed. There are tears. But it's the school of hard knocks. That is life. I can't say enough about those seniors and what they've done for Texas State volleyball over the last 3-4-5 years. Love them."
 
-TxStateBobcats.com-