SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State volleyball team capped a furious rally to topple Louisiana 3-2 (19-25, 22-25, 25-19, 25-20, 15-7) Friday night in a Sun Belt Conference match inside Strahan Arena.
 
The Bobcats (21-5, 12-0 Sun Belt) remained unblemished in league action and moved one match shy of clinching no worse than a share of the conference regular season championship. They also won for the 16th time in a row, marking the longest win streak since 2000 and the third-longest streak in school history.
 
The Ragin' Cajuns fell to 12-13 overall and 4-7 in the Sun Belt.
 
Junior Cheyenne Huskey tallied her sixth double-double of the season with 14 kills and 10 digs. True freshman Emily DeWalt extended her Sun Belt lead to 17 double-doubles with 51 assists and 18 digs. Classmates Janell Fitzgerald (14) and Sarabi Worsley-Gilbert (13) both added double-figure kills. Junior Micah Dinwiddie led all players with 20 digs, while sophomore Brooke Johnson contributed 11 digs of her own.
 
Nia Antoine paced Louisiana with 13 kills, while Hanna Rovira added 12 and Dree'Ana Abram tallied 11. Milayne Danna posted 26 assists and 10 digs, while Avery Breaux finished with 14 assists. Sydney Davis had 15 digs, and Lexi Hebert added 10 digs.
 
Texas State led the night in kills (66-51), attack percentage (.200-.168), assists (65-48), aces (8-0), and digs (96-59). The Ragin' Cajuns had the most blocks (15-10).

SET 1
The opening period saw the visitors snatch the early momentum at 25-19. They built an 8-4 lead that eventually swelled to 12-7. The maroon and gold clawed back within one at 17-16, but unforced errors would prove to be the difference as Louisiana won eight of the final 11 points. TXST hit just .068 in the frame and had 10 attack errors.
 
SET 2
Texas State put up a stronger fight in the second stanza, but the Ragin' Cajuns were again the better side in the end and won 25-22. There were 10 ties and six lead changes, with the final standstill at 21-21. TXST held a three-point cushion at 14-11, but a 5-0 run from Louisiana squashed that vibe. The two sides seesawed back-and-forth until the Ragin' Cajuns were able to win four of the last five points in the set.
 
SET 3
The monumental rally began with a 25-19 triumph in the third from the home side. The Bobcats broke a 5-5 tie and held the lead the rest of the way. They used the energy from the friendly crowd to go on top 16-9, and the rest of the set was a mere formality. TXST increased its lead to 22-12 and held off a late charge from the visitors.
 
SET 4
Texas State won the fourth 25-20. The maroon and gold powered ahead 10-5 and later swelled its lead to 16-9 for the second set in a row. The largest lead of the period was eight at 19-11. Louisiana made things interesting with a late charge, but it would fizzle out in the end.
 
SET 5
After coming back from the death to push proceedings to a decisive fifth set, the Bobcats made sure not to leave any doubt by claiming the last stanza 15-7. They built a 10-4 advantage that forced the Ragin' Cajuns to burn through both of their timeouts, and they traded blows the rest of the way to cap off the rally.
 
This was the second time this season the maroon and gold came from down 2-0 to win a match (UT Arlington, Oct. 2). TXST also improved to 17-1 all-time over Louisiana after sweeping the home-and-home season series.

The Bobcats are set for their final home match of the regular season at noon Oct. 28 against ULM. Texas State will honor its four seniors (Halee Brewer, Madison Daigle, Megan Porter, Amy Pflughaupt) prior to the match. There will also be a special presentation at intermission to honor the 10th anniversary of the 2008 Southland Conference Regular Season Championship team.
 
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