LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The Texas State volleyball team lost 3-1 (25-19, 17-25, 24-26, 25-21) to Little Rock Friday night inside Jack Stephens Center in a Sun Belt Conference match.
 
The Bobcats (18-10, 11-2 SBC) saw their nine-match win streak halted, while the Trojans improved to 12-15 overall and 8-6 in league play.
 
Junior Jaliyah Bolden tied her career high with 19 kills, while senior Kelsey Weynand tallied 15 kills and 15 digs for her 16th career double-double. Junior Erin Hoppe also doubled up for the eighth time in her career with 43 assists and 14 digs, while freshman Megan Porter added 10 kills and nine digs. Freshman Micah Dinwiddie finished with 24 digs.
 
Texas State took a quick 5-1 lead in the opening set and kept the advantage all the way until Little Rock was able to bring the match back to a 16-16 draw. From there, it was all Trojans as the home team ended the game on a 12-3 run to win 25-19.
 
The Bobcats were able to even the match at one game apiece by taking the second set 25-17. They initially jumped on top 11-1 before Little Rock was able to garner any momentum. LR got back to within five points at 16-11, but the maroon and gold held the Trojans at bay to earn the set triumph.
 
Little Rock regained the advantage by winning the third set 26-24. The Trojans initially began with a 7-2 lead that stretched to eight points at 16-8. Texas State fought back to pull within one at 16-15 and later tie the set at 24-24, but LR closed with the final two points to take control of the match.
 
The Trojans closed out the Bobcats with a 25-21 fourth-set triumph. After an initial 10-10 tie, LR went on a run to take a 17-11 advantage that Texas State would be unable to overcome. The visitors got within 21-19, but they would get no closer.
 
Veronica Marin paced the Trojans with 10 kills, while Taylor Lindberg chipped in 26 assists. Both Hope Larmour and Kelsey Leech finished with 14 digs.
 
Texas State led in kills (57-39), but Little Rock led in hitting percentage (.154-.145). The Trojans also had more aces (8-5) and blocks (12-11).
 
Texas State is set to continue its four-match road swing to end the regular season. Next up for the Bobcats will be a 6:30 p.m. contest Nov. 5 against Arkansas State in Jonesboro, Arkansas. The match will be broadcast live on ESPN3, and the winner will be in the driver's seat for the Sun Belt West Division Championship heading into the final week of the regular season.
 
TEXAS STATE COACH KAREN CHISUM
Opening statement…
"I'm disappointed for the team, but this may be a wakeup call. My message to them after the match was to not let this ruin their season. There's plenty of volleyball left to play. We can go over tomorrow night (to Arkansas State) and still win the (Sun Belt) West Division. We can go into the conference tournament as the No. 2 or No. 3 seed and win the whole thing. I take full responsibility for them not being ready to play tonight. We had way too many errors tonight. We had 35, and that's way too many. That's nine a game. It just wasn't meant to be, but I'm going to use this as a wakeup call. We can still win the West Division and we can still win the tournament."
 
On what she would like to see tomorrow against Arkansas State…
"What I told them is they can cry and they can point fingers, but it doesn't matter. Once we get up in the morning, I want to see winners. I want to see competitors. I want to see Bobcats that are ready to come back and fight. For them to come back and fight tonight will show me a sign of maturity. For as many seniors as we have on this team, I expect them to show that they are true winners. If we fold tomorrow night, then that's when I will be disappointed. I want to see us fight tomorrow night. We haven't lost in a long time. I want to see how we rebound."
 
-TxStateBobcats.com-