SAN MARCOS, Texas – No. 11 Texas State (20-2, 15-1 Sun Belt) suffered an upset at the hands of UT Arlington (10-6, 10-6 Sun Belt) in straight sets (25-23, 25-20, 25-18) to conclude the regular season on Saturday afternoon at Strahan Arena.
 
The loss for Texas State not only ends its 17-match winning streak this season, but it is also the first home loss against a conference opponent since dropping a 3-0 contest to South Alabama on Sept. 22, 2017, ending a 31-match winning streak.
 
The Bobcats hit a season-low .096 in the setback, while the Lady Mavs had the second-highest hitting percentage of any Bobcat opponent in 2020 at .246. UTA also held the statistical advantage over TXST in assists (40-33), aces (3-2), blocks (11-9), and digs (60-48).
 
"That was not how we anticipated the day going," said head coach Sean Huiet. "Like we said earlier, we were really excited to be in this position but we knew we had to do it with the ball, and we just did not do it today.
We told the players in the locker room 'sulk in here, cry in here, do what you want, but the minute you walk out of this locker room we are forgetting this loss. The positive with this is that did not end our season. We still have the conference tournament next week and that has been our goal all along; to go to the post-season NCAA tournament and we have to win the conference tournament. We are hoping that this is a little bit of a wakeup call and gets us going for next week."
 
Junior outside hitter Janell Fitzgerald led the team with 10 kills (.227) and added five digs and three blocks. Junior setter Emily DeWalt recorded her second double-double of the weekend with 26 assists and a team-high 15 digs. She also finished with two blocks and a kill. Outside hitters, junior Kenedi Rutherford and sophomore Lauren Teske each had six kills, followed by sophomore middle blocker Tessa Marshall led the team with five blocks and had five kills.
 
Freshman outside hitter Briana Brown had a day with 16 kills, hitting .344 in the match and added five digs and two blocks in the win. Junior setter Kylee Kapp paced the offense with 16 assists, and freshman setter Mollie Blank followed with 14 assists. Blank also had one ace. Both junior middle blocker Michaela Wright and freshman middle blocker Simara Peyton ended the match with a team-best five blocks. Sophomore libero Alli Wells had a match-high 23 digs.
 
Set 1
Texas State scored the first three points and built a 7-1 margin before UT Arlington signaled for time. The Bobcats continued to expand their lead to as large as eight at 18-10, but the Lady Mavs fought back with a 5-1 run and later an 10-2 run highlighted by seven unanswered points to win the set 25-23. Rutherford led the team with five kills and DeWalt nearly had a double-double with 11 assists and eight digs.
 
Set 2
UT Arlington kept its energy high after the opening set by scoring the first three points of the frame and led 9-7 when Texas State felt pressure to use its first timeout. The Lady Mavs was the first to 15 with the score 15-10, and although down the stretch the Bobcats' 5-2 run brought the score to 19-17, the visiting team responded with three unanswered points to increase their lead to 22-17, forcing Texas State's final timeout. The Lady Mavericks went on to win the second set 25-20 for the 2-0 match lead.
 
Set 3
The Lady Mavs kept their foot on the gas as they found themselves ahead 9-4 early in the match that made the Bobcats burn their first timeout. The visiting team grew its lead to double-digits at 15-5. behind a 9-0 scoring run, but the Bobcats kept fighting and reeled off a 7-1 rush highlighted by five unanswered points to make the score 16-12, UTA. However, that would be the closest Texas State would get to the lead as UT Arlington scored the next four points to force the home team's final timeout, and proceeded to score five points to seal the match 25-18 despite the Bobcats scoring six of the final 11.
 
UP NEXT
Texas State will be the top seed in the West Division of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament which is Nov. 18-22 in Foley, Ala. The tournament will open with three days of pool play. TXST will be placed in Pool C where they will be joined by the No. 4 seed of the East Division, South Alabama, and the No. 6 seed of the West Division, ULM. The Bobcats will take on sixth seed ULM at 2:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday, Nov. 18 to begin pool play.
 
At the conclusion of pool play, the winner of Pool C will play the winner of Pool B in the semifinals at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 21. Pool B features the No. 2 seed in the East Division, Troy, the No. 3 seed of the West Division (UT Arlington), and the No. 5 seed of the East Division, Georgia Southern.
 
Stay updated on everything Texas State volleyball by following the team on Facebook,  Twitter, and Instagram.