JONESBORO, Ark. – The Texas State volleyball team fell 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-12) to Arkansas State Saturday night inside Convocation Center.
 
The loss clinched the No. 3 seed for the Bobcats (18-11, 11-3 SBC) in the Sun Belt Conference Championship, which will be contested Nov. 18-20 in Arlington, Texas. The Red Wolves (22-7, 14-1 SBC) won their 10th match in a row and have not lost since falling to Texas State on Oct. 7 in San Marcos.
 
Junior Erin Hoppe paced the Bobcat offense with 27 assists, while freshman Micah Dinwiddie added 13 digs. Senior Kelsey Weynand added 11 digs, and freshman Megan Porter led Texas State with eight kills.
 
Arkansas State jumped out to a 1-0 advantage by winning the opening set 25-19. The Red Wolves never trailed after initially taking an early 4-1 lead. Texas State stayed within three points the whole way until the home team was able to score five of the final six points.
 
A-State captured the second set by the same 25-19 margin as it did the first. The home side broke a 6-6 tie on an attack error and never trailed again, but Texas State stayed within four points until the latter stages of the set. TXST got within two at 17-15, but the Red Wolves closed strong to hold on for the six-point victory.
 
The home team controlled the third set and went ahead 11-4 before clinching the match at 25-12.
 
Jessica Uke led all players with 10 kills on a .714 attack percentage. Mallory Warrington posted 35 assists and 20 digs, while Markie Schaedig finished with 13 digs.
 
Texas State is now set to close out the year with a pair of matches in Louisiana. First up for the Bobcats will be a 6:30 p.m. clash Nov. 11 with ULM in Monroe, Louisiana. The regular-season finale will be against Louisiana at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 12 in Lafayette, Louisiana.

TEXAS STATE COACH KAREN CHISUM
Opening statement…
"After we beat Arkansas State (Oct. 7), they went to work. They got tons better. They were by far the better team tonight. Hats off to them. We did not come to perform tonight like I know we can. I did not hold my tongue with them after the match. We have two weeks left to get better. We have two matches in Louisiana next week and then the conference tournament. I expect to see different work ethic and demands from each other this next week of practice. We know the level we can get to, but we just haven't been able to get there lately. We know we can go win that conference tournament, but now it's all just about getting it done."
 
On what it means to be the No. 3 seed in the SBC Championship…
"It's good from the standpoint that we know where we stand. We have that stability knowing that we are going to be the No. 3 seed. Now we don't have to worry about that anymore, so we can just go to work preparing for the tournament. To me, the hardest match at a conference championship is that first one. We need to be at our best coming into that match. The pressure is on both teams at that point. There are only four teams left after the first round and it's anybody's tournament after that."
 
On the lack of depth this weekend…
"We had two key players back home with injuries in Madison Daigle and Jordan Kohl. There were times tonight that I was looking at our bench for our next hitter with experience, and we didn't have that this weekend. That doesn't matter though. Injuries happen to everybody, so we just have to live with it. But I do hope we are at full strength come tournament time."
 
-TxStateBobcats.com-