LONG BEACH, Calif. – Albeit a sweep, the Texas State volleyball team competed tough in the 3-0 (24-26, 18-25, 23-25) decision vs. UCLA Friday evening at Walter Pyramid.
 
"I thought we battled pretty well," said head coach Karen Chisum. "They beat us on the serve and pass game and I think the biggest disappointment was that we had an opportunity in two sets and we just could not put them away. Other than that, I was excited to get Caitlan [Buettner] and Rylie [Fuentes] in the match to see what they got. I think they will help us down the road."
 
The Bobcats (2-4) challenged its second Pac-12 opponent of the 2019 season despite suffering their third sweep in four matches. The Bruins (2-2) logged an opponent season-high .303 hitting percentage vs. the Maroon and Gold, who hit .195 and won the battle at the net with eight blocks to the Bobcats' six. UCLA had four more digs (46-42) and one more service ace than TXST (4-3), but the Bobcats edged its opponent in assists 40-39. Both teams tallied 41 kills.
 
In just her second match back from a minor injury, sophomore outside hitter Janell Fitzgerald led the Bobcats with 12 kills. She was the only player wearing maroon with double-figure kills and recorded a .233 hitting percentage. Senior outside hitter Cheyenne Huskey had nine kills, five digs and an ace, and sophomore middle blocker Jillian Slaughter had an efficient night with seven kills on 18 swings and one error (.333). She was outdone by junior middle Tyeranee Scott, in terms of hitting percentage, who registered a .455 behind five kills on 11 swings with no errors. Scott led the team with three blocks. Sophomore setter Emily DeWalt had 32 assists, eight digs, and two kills, while junior DS Brooke Johnson had a team-best nine digs and one ace.
 
The UCLA offense ran through junior outside hitter Mac May who for the second consecutive match was the only Bruin to register 10 or more kills. May concluded the match with 17 kills and three aces which were both match-highs. She also added seven digs and three blocks. Classmate Jenny Mosser followed with seven kills and a .385 attack percentage, and senior outside Savvy Simo had six kills to go along with her 10 digs. UCLA ran a 6-2 offense that saw sophomore setters Devon Chang and Hawley Harrer record 19 and 18 assists, respectively. Sophomore libero Kelli Barry led the match with 11 digs.  
 
Set 1
The Bobcats opened by scoring three of the first five points in the match before UCLA scored four-in-a-row to grab a 6-3 lead. With the lead growing 14-8, the Bobcats went on a 4-1 run highlighted by consecutive strikes by Fitzgerald to force a Bruins timeout. Texas State continued the run on the other side of the timeout that included a 5-0 run to gain its first lead of the match at 17-16. UCLA quickly responded with a 3-0 run and despite the Bobcats having set point, the Bruins scored the final four points to win the set, 26-24.
 
Set 2
The Bruins controlled set two from the beginning by jumping out to a 6-2 start. The Bobcat put together a 4-1 run towards the middle of the set, but it was all UCLA as they put the exclamation point on a 25-18 set win behind a late 7-3 run to end the frame.
 
Set 3
Texas State got off to a strong start as they took a 7-3 lead behind four kills and an ace and held a five-point lead roughly halfway through the set at 13-8. From that point, UCLA made their move and scored four of the next five points to trim the visiting team's lead down to 14-12. Texas State answered with four unanswered points to go-ahead 18-12, but UCLA stormed back with a 10-4 margin to tie the set at 22. UCLA's May took over for the rest of the set as she scored the remaining three points needed to seal the win.
  
The Bobcats will conclude the Mizuno Classic with a 6:30 p.m. CT serve vs. Georgia Saturday evening.
 
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