SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State volleyball team fell 3-1 (22-25, 27-25, 25-20, 25-21) to No. 16 Kentucky Saturday evening inside Strahan Arena.
 
The Bobcats (5-5) fell back to .500 on the year, while the Wildcats (4-4) improved to .500.
 
Senior Amy Pflughaupt registered a team-best 15 kills, junior Cheyenne Huskey posted 14 of her own and true freshman Janell Fitzgerald tallied 12 kills on a team-leading .348 attack percentage. True freshman Emily DeWalt (31 assists, 11 digs) and sophomore Brooke Johnson (11 digs, 10 assists) both finished with double-doubles, while junior Micah Dinwiddie added a match-high 13 digs.
 
Leah Edmond paced the Wildcats with 24 kills. Caitlyn Cooper added 14 kills for the winning side. Madison Lilley distributed 53 assists, and both McKenzie Watson and Gabby Curry had 12 digs.
 
Kentucky had match highs in kills (66-56), attack percentage (.333-.279), assists (62-52), and digs (58-55). Texas State led in blocks (9-6), and both sides finished with five service aces.

SET 1
Texas State came out of the gates red-hot, stunning the Wildcats with a 25-22 first-period triumph. The two teams initially played to a 13-13 draw before the Bobcats used a 4-0 run to gain a lead it would never relinquish. TXST increased its advantage to six at 22-16 and held on after UK was able to crawl back to within two on a pair of occasions.
 
SET 2
The visitors equalized the match by snatching the second in overtime, 27-25. Texas State propelled into a 10-2 advantage and maintained a six-point edge at 14-8. Kentucky took over from there and went on an 11-3 run to notch proceedings at 17-17. The visitors were able to find three set points at 24-21, but Texas State went on a mini-run to send the frame into extras. The maroon and gold fended off the first four set points before finally succumbing to a fifth opportunity.
 
SET 3
Kentucky led 6-5 early in the third and never allowed the Bobcats to pull back level. They stretched their lead out to as many as five at 18-13 and later six at 21-15 before closing out the frame 25-20.
 
SET 4
The Wildcats wrapped up the day by capturing the final set 25-21. They never trailed after moving on top 5-4, but Texas State remained close the whole way. The Bobcats never trailed by more than four points until the waning moments of the match, but they could never climb over the hump and take a lead.

This was the first meeting between the two programs.
 
Texas State will now hit the road for a rematch with UTSA at 7 p.m. Sept. 11 inside Convocation Center in San Antonio, Texas. The Bobcats took down the Roadrunners 3-1 on Aug. 30.
 
-- TXSTATEBOBCATS.COM --