FOLEY, Ala. – No. 15 Texas State (21-2) opened pool play with a solid sweep over the No. 6 seed in the West Division, ULM (1-21), 25-18, 25-14, 25-17 on Wednesday afternoon at the Foley Event Center.
 
For the seventh time this season, the Bobcats record a .300 hitting percentage or better after logging a .311 clip behind 38 kills on 90 swings and 10 errors. They also held ULM to a .116 clip. TXST also served well and totaled eight aces to mark the third time this season the team has had eight or more aces.
 
"I thought it was a great start to the tournament," said head coach Sean Huiet. "We started slow in the first two sets, but I thought we served very well and that helped separate ourselves. I also thought Jill [Slaughter] had a great day and was very effective."
 
Eight different players recorded a kill in the win thanks to junior setter Emily DeWalt who logged double-double No. 16 of the year with 26 assists and a team-high 13 digs. DeWalt also matched a season-high two aces for the fourth time in the 2020 season. Junior Janell Fitzgerald led the team with nine kills behind a .375 hitting percentage (9-2-24) and added two blocks. Junior middle blocker Jillian Slaughter finished with seven kills and led the team with three blocks. Joining DeWalt with two aces was sophomore outside hitter Caitlan Buettner, who also had six kills, and sophomore defensive specialist Michelle Foster who turned in a career-high 12 digs.  
 
Junior outside hitter Cali Assaley led the Warhawks with 12 kills and two aces. Additionally, she had seven digs and one block. Freshman setter Karson Davis finished with 19 assists, eight digs, and two blocks, while senior middle blocker Alix Christie led all players with four blocks. Sophomore libero Madeline Hogan led ULM with 11 digs in the match.
 
Set 1
ULM scored the first two points, but TXST responded by scoring seven of the next nine points to go ahead 7-4 and forced an ULM timeout. The Warhawks stopped the bleeding briefly, but the Bobcats reeled off an 8-1 run highlighted by six unanswered points to build a 17-8 advantage that led to the Warhawks' final timeout of the frame. ULM did score four of six points after the break in action, and trimmed the deficit as low as five points, 23-18, but it was too late as the acting home team won the set 25-18. Fitzgerald led the club with four kills followed by Slaughter and sophomore middle blocker Tessa Marshall who each had three points.  
 
Set 2
The Warhawks jumped out of the gates by scoring the first three points, but a Bobcat 5-0 run, followed by a 4-0 burst extended TXST's lead 11-6. ULM tried to show some life halfway through the set, but another 8-2 run by the Bobcats kept the Warhawks at bay and the Maroon and Gold won the second stanza, 25-14. TXST was efficient on offense as they recorded 14 kills with one error on 30 swings (.433) led by Slaughter who had a set-high four kills on five errorless swings (.800).
 
Set 3
Both teams exchanged points early before ULM went on a 4-0 scoring run to go ahead 6-3. The Bobcats bounced back however, with a 7-0 run to take an 11-7 lead and never looked back as they cruised to a 25-17 victory. Buettner paced the Bobcats with three kills in the set, while Fitzgerald, Marshall, and junior outside hitter Kenedi Rutherford each recorded two kills.
 
UP NEXT
Texas State will take on South Alabama, the No. 4 seed in the East Division, at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 20 at the Foley Event Center.
 
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