SAN MARCOS, Texas – A record-breaking Sun Belt Conference Volleyball Championship crowd of 3,040 fans saw Texas State (24-8) punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament by taking down Coastal Carolina (24-6) 3-1 (26-24, 19-25, 25-21, 25-18) Sunday afternoon at Strahan Arena. Senior outside hitter
Cheyenne Huskey was named the tournaments' Most Outstanding Player and was joined by sophomore setter
Emily DeWalt on the All-Tournament Team.
Huskey is the third Bobcat to be named the league's tournament Most Outstanding Player and this season marks the first time the Bobcats had a player to win the award in consecutive seasons (
Madison Daigle, 2018; Calin Mahoney, 2013). In two matches, The Columbus, Texas native averaged 4.29 kills per set to lead the team and had 11 digs, six blocks, and four aces. DeWalt, the Sun Belt's 2019 Setter of the Year, registered 10.29 assists per set in the tournament and tallied 11 total blocks (one solo), nine digs, seven kills and two aces.
"That was a gutsy performance by the Bobcats," said head coach Karen Chisum. "It was up and down, but the team stayed together and fought. I cannot be any more excited for a group of ladies. Hats off to Coastal Carolina. They are tough and good, but the Bobcats prevailed."
Texas State wins its third Sun Belt tournament title since joining the league in 2013 and becomes the first back-to-back Sun Belt Tournament Champions since Coastal Carolina did it in 2016-17. The Bobcats outhit the Chanticleers slightly (.222-.220) and held the advantage in aces (8-3) and blocks (10-7). Coastal Carolina had the advantage in kills (53-51) and assists (49-47), but the league leaders in aces had a tough outing as they committed 14 service errors, an opponent season-high for the Bobcats. TXST is now 4-3 all-time vs. CCU and has a 1-2 record vs. the Chants in the Sun Belt Conference Volleyball Championship.
Huskey was the only Bobcat with 10 or more kills and finished with 17 (.289). She also led the team with three aces and had eight digs and four blocks. Sophomore middle
Jillian Slaughter matched a career-high nine kills behind .400 hitting percentage that led all players. She also had three blocks. DeWalt handed out 41 assists and contributed five digs, three kills, two aces, and two blocks in the win. Junior middle blocker
Tyeranee Scott led the team with six blocks and had eight kills (.312), while sophomore defensive specialist
Kayla Granado registered 10 digs to lead TXST. Granado also had two aces.
Coastal had three players who logged 10-plus kills beginning with junior outside hitter Kyla Manning's 18 (.317). Manning nearly had a double-double with nine digs and had one block but also led the team with five service errors. Sophomore outside lefty Anett Nemeth had 17 kills but did so on 48 swings and 11 errors. Nemeth, the leagues Player and Offensive Player of the Year, had 10 digs, two blocks and led the team with two aces. Senior outside Mariia Levanova finished with 15 kills and had six digs, one ace, and one solo block. Freshman setter Brigitta Petrenko totaled 46 assists and freshman libero Lina Perugini had 14 digs. Both led all players.
Set 1
Texas State scored the first three points and built an 8-3 lead before Coastal called its first timeout. Coastal pieced together a 7-2 scoring run to tie the set at 10, but the Bobcats never gave up their lead and extended the margin to 24-17. Coastal gave a final push and fought off seven set points, tying the frame at 24, but a kill by Huskey and a Coastal attack error ended the set with the Bobcats escaping 26-24.
Set 2
Coastal Carolina took their first lead of the match at 5-4 and held a 10-7 advantage before Texas State burned a timeout. Out of the break, the Bobcats scored three straight points to tie the set at 10 but Coastal held tight to the lead for the remainder of the set. CCU used a 3-0 run to make the score 17-13 and pulled away at the end for the 25-19 win.
Set 3
A tight third set saw seven ties and three lead changes between the two clubs. The Bobcats took their first lead at 13-12 and led 18-15 highlighted by a 4-0 run before CCU used its final timeout. The Chanticleers pulled within two points at 21-19, but the Bobcats scored four of the final six points to take a 2-1 match lead with a 25-21 set win. Although Huskey led the team with five kills, freshman outside hitter
Lauren Teske took over the set with four kills on 10 swings with just one error. Teske also had a block in the set.
Set 4
The Chants struck first again, but the Bobcats took over at 7-6 and never gave the lead up. The turning point in the stanza was a Bobcat 6-1 run that forced the Chants to use both of their timeouts with the score at 16-11. The visiting team cut the lead as small as three points at 20-17 but the Bobcats closed on a 5-1 run to secure the title.
The Bobcats will await the NCAA Division I women's volleyball selection show at 7:30 p.m. CT on Dec. 1 to see which regional bracket they will be placed in. The show will be showed on ESPNU.
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