JONESBORO, Ark. – Junior outside hitter Janell Fitzgerald put up a career-high 30 kills and No. 13 Texas State (19-1, 14-0 Sun Belt) completed the five-set comeback (23-25, 22-25, 25-22, 25-21, 15-5) at Arkansas State (8-8, 8-8 Sun Belt) Saturday afternoon at the First National Bank Arena. It was a tightly contested match that had a total of 36 ties and 19 lead changes.
 
Fitzgerald's 30 kills are tied for the most in a five-set match in the NCAA this season with Florida's Elizaveta Lukianova. As a unit, the Bobcats finish the regular season 9-0 on the road and are now on a 16-match winning streak.
 
"I love that we were challenged and we maintained our composure," said head coach Sean Huiet. "To be down 0-2 on the road and win takes great character. This team always believes we are going to win. Janell [Fitzgerald] had a big time match. Thirty kills is impressive, and even more impressive that they were keying on her and she still produced."
 
The reverse sweep for Texas State is the second this season, with the first also coming on the road at then-ranked No. 15 Louisiana club on Oct. 16. Both the Bobcats and Red Wolves hit under .200 with Texas State holding the edge .182-.148. The Bobcats' 62 kills marked the fourth time this season the team has logged 60 or more kills and both teams registered five aces. The Red Wolves recorded an opponent season-high 16 blocks compared to the Bobcats eight blocks. The Bobcats did hold the advantage however in digs, 78-69.
 
Fitzgerald, who hit a .566 (30-7-53) was the only Bobcat with double-figure kills and matched a career-high six blocks for the third time this season. Fitzgerald did set new career-highs with 53 total attacks and five solo blocks. Junior setter Emily DeWalt tallied career double-double No. 45 with 52 assists and 17 digs. It was her 13th double-dip of the season and second of the weekend. Junior libero Kayla Granado matched her career-best 22 digs for the third time this season and matched sophomore outside hitter Lauren Teske with a match-high two aces. Teske had 10 digs on the day to go along with six kills, and sophomore defensive specialist Michelle Foster also had 10 digs.
 
Junior outside hitter Macy Putt had a double-double for the Red Wolves with 16 kills and 14 digs. She also had two aces in the match. Putt was followed by junior middle blocker Josie Stanford's 11 kills and five blocks, although freshman middle blocker Mariah Hesselgesser led all players with seven total blocks. A-State had four total players finish with five or more blocks, including sophomore right side Kendahl Davenport (6) and sophomore middle blocker Brianna Hollingshed (5). Junior setter Lauren Musante led the team with 23 assists and her classmate and counterpart Julianna Cramer followed with 19 assists. Junior libero Tatum Ticknor also had a match-high 24 digs in the loss.
 
Texas State now leads the all-time series 13-10 over Arkansas State.
 
Set 1
It was a tight opening set that featured 10 ties and four lead changes, however, a late 5-0 run by the Red Wolves proved to be the difference in the 25-23 setback for Texas State. With the Bobcats leading 17-16, The Red Wolves put together a 6-2 run, highlighted by a 5-0 burst to take a 22-19 lead. Texas State did tie the match one final time at 23, but Arkansas State pulled out the victory after a kill from Stanford and a Bobcat attacking error. Fitzgerald led the team with nine kills on 12 attempts and one error (.667).   
 
Set 2
It was more back-and-forth action (13 ties, 10 lead changes) in the second set, but a 4-1 run by the Red Wolves put them ahead 15-14 at the media timeout. Out of that break, the Bobcats scored the first three points, and after a service error for A-State, the Red Wolves called timeout trailing 18-16. Later, the Red Wolves used a 3-0 margin of their own to take a 19-18 lead and although the Bobcats returned the 3-0 favor for a 21-19 advantage, A-State finished the set on a 6-1 run to secure a 25-22 victory.  
 
Set 3
Texas State built a 5-3 lead to begin the set and although A-State closed the gap with a 4-1 run to tie the set at six, the Bobcats used an 8-1 run, highlighted by six unanswered points for a 14-7 advantage to burn through both of A-State's timeouts. The set seemed like it was over after the Bobcats' 5-0 run gave them a 22-14 lead, however, an 8-2 run by the Red Wolves made the Bobcats signal for timeout as they clung to a 24-22 lead. After the timeout, an Arkansas State attack error sealed the set 25-22 to keep the Bobcats alive. The Bobcats led the entire set.
 
Set 4
It was another tug-of-war set (nine ties, four lead changes) as both teams traded points up to 9-9, until a 3-0 burst by the Bobcats forced a Red Wolves' timeout. Texas State continued to grow its lead to 15-10 thanks to another 3-0 run, but Arkansas State stayed close by. Late in the set, the Red Wolves pieced together a 6-2 scoring run to tie the set at 20, but the Bobcats scored on five of the final six points to take the set 25-21 and force a fifth set. Fitzgerald went off for nine kills and hit .353 (9-3-17), while sophomore outside hitter Caitlan Buettner recorded six kills in the set.
 
Set 5
It was all Texas State in the final set as they dominated Arkansas State 15-5 in large part due to a 10-0 run that featured three kills and a solo block from Fitzgerald. The Bobcats hit an errorless .583 in the set (7-0-12) and had two blocks. The Red Wolves hit -.133 and had zero blocks in the deciding set.
 
UP NEXT
Texas State ends the regular season with a pair of matches on Nov. 13-14 against UT Arlington at Strahan Arena in San Marcos, Texas.  
 
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