SAN MARCOS, Texas – Junior outside hitter Janell Fitzgerald tallied a career-high 20 kills (.326) to lead Texas State (3-0) past UTEP (0-0) in five sets (15-25, 25-22, 25-12, 23-25, 15-10) Friday night at Strahan Arena. The Bobcats extend their home winning streak to 15 consecutive matches.
 
"I will take an ugly win over an ugly loss any day of the week," said head coach Sean Huiet. "We have been battling stuff and figuring things out. We have not had a full team in a while so we know that this will be a work in progress but we will take that win. UTEP is a very good team and they made us work for every point we got tonight. Even though I am happy we got the win, it really highlighted some things we need to work on."
 
Fitzgerald was the only Bobcat in double-figures offensively and matched a career-high six blocks in the match. Junior setter Emily DeWalt logged her 33rd career double-double with 43 assists and 15 digs, while also registering four kills on nine errorless swings (.444). Junior middle blocker Jillian Slaughter also had six blocks, highlighted by two solos, to go along with eight kills, and although sophomore outside Caitlan Buettner did not have a strong offensive match, she led the team with 17 digs and turned in a career-high four blocks.
 
In what is counted aa a scrimmage for UTEP, sophomore outside hitter Alianza Darley led the team with 12 kills and five blocks. Junior outside Serena Patterson had a double-double with 10 kills and 10 digs, and also had four blocks (two solos). Junior setter Kristen Fritsche paced the team with 22 assists, and junior libero Ha'ahula Crisostomo led all players with 20 digs.
 
Texas State had a rough going offensively as they hit .203 in the match and had only two service aces compared to UTEP's 11. The Bobcats made up for it on defense however, as they set a new season-high 15 blocks with five of them being solo blocks. TXST did hold an edge over UTEP in kills (56-46), assists (51-44), digs (67-58) and blocks (15-13).
 
The Bobcats improve to 12-5 in the all-time series with the Miners and are 8-2 overall when playing at home. TXST now has a two-match winning streak at home against UTEP.        
 Set 1
UTEP led wire-to-wire in the first set and won 25-15. The Miners used an 8-0 run to create separation, making the score 18-8, and forced TXST to use both timeouts. The Bobcats responded with a 6-4 run to trim the lead 22-14, but the visitors closed the set with a 3-1 run. TXST hit -.065 while UTEP had its best set of the night hitting .348.
 
Set 2
Texas State evened the match by winning the second set 25-22. The Bobcats put together a 7-1 run to go ahead 18-11 and moments later had their largest lead of the frame, 20-12. UTEP pushed back with a 5-0 scoring run and eventually cut the Bobcats' lead to one, 22-21. Fitzgerald stopped the run with a kill and the home team went on the score three of the final four points.
 
Set 3
The Miners struck first and used a 4-0 run to build a 5-2 margin before the Bobcats took control of the match with a 12-3 burst to make the score 14-8. It was all Texas State from there as they piled on the runs and led by as many as 13 with the count at 24-11. The Maroon and Gold won the set, 25-12 behind four kills from both Fitzgerald and senior middle blocker Tyeranee Scott.  
 
Set 4
It was a tight set that featured nine ties, five lead changes, and three challenges. Both teams were tied at 12 when the Miners pieced together an 8-3 run to take a 20-15 lead. Each club split the next six points and the Bobcats trimmed UTEP's lead 23-21 after a 3-0 run that forced a Miner's timeout. Out of the break, UTEP got a kill and the Cats fought off two set points before UTEP won the set 25-23 thanks to a service error.
 
Set 5
A kill from DeWalt gave the Bobcats early momentum as they proceeded to use a 5-0 run to build a 6-1 lead. UTEP burned its first timeout to ease the run, however, the home team continued to grow their advantage to 11-4 - the largest of the set - and forced UTEP's final timeout of the match. A quick Miner 3-1 run out of the timeout made the count 12-8, but Slaughter stopped the run with a kill and a solo block, giving the Bobcats match point. Fitzgerald would go on to seal the match 15-10 with a kill. It was the strongest offensive set for TXST as they hit .444 (9-1-18) in the frame.
 
UP NEXT
Texas State and UTEP will face off again at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 12 at Strahan Arena.
 
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