SAN MARCOS, Texas – Texas State (6-1, 1-0 Sun Belt) extends its home winning streak against Sun Belt Conference opponents to 10 after downing ULM (1-3, 0-1 Sun Belt) in straight sets (25-13, 25-16, 25-18) Friday morning at Strahan Arena.
 
The Bobcats hit a season-high .317 in the victory and held ULM to an opponent season low three blocks. Texas State registered 47 kills to ULM's 27, and totaled five blocks and five aces in the match.
 
"We talked all week about starting Sun Belt play strong and I believe we did that," said head coach Sean Huiet. "ULM threw a lot of lineups at us and I thought we handled it well. I like how we are serving and playing defense right now."
 
Junior outside hitter Janell Fitzgerald and sophomore outside Caitlan Buettner led all players with 12 kills each. Both Fitzgerald and Buettner only had one error. Fitzgerald hit .579 (12-1-19), while Buettner hit .524 (12-1-21), both of which are career-highs. Fitzgerald also matched a team-high with two blocks along with junior middle blocker Jillian Slaughter and sophomore middle Tessa Marshall. Junior setter Emily DeWalt finished with 35 assists, 11 digs, three kills and a block. It is her fifth consecutive double-double this season. Finally, junior libero Kayla Granado anchored the defense with match-highs of 13 digs and three aces.
 
ULM was kept under wraps all morning as senior outside hitter Haley Coulter led the team with six kills and had the Warhawks' only ace of the match. She also had eight digs. Senior middle blocker Catherine Griffith and senior outside Ina Gosen followed with five kills and Griffith had a match-high three blocks. Sophomore outside hitter Madeline Hogan wore the libero jersey and had 13 digs in the match and while freshman setter Karson Davis led the team with 10 assists.
 
Texas State improves to 47-2 all-time against ULM and extends its winning streak to 16 in head-to-head matches. The Bobcats are also 25-0 when playing the Warhawks in San Marcos.
 
Set 1
Although ULM took an early 3-2 lead, the Texas State responded with four unanswered points for a 6-3 advantage. The run would expand to 11-3 for a 13-6 lead, and the Bobcats rolled from there, leading by as many as 13 points in the 25-13 rout. Buettner paced all players with eight kills on 12 errorless swings (.667) and the team as a whole hit .316.
 
Set 2
Fitzgerald opened the frame with two kills which ignited a 5-1 start for the Bobcats and an early timeout for the Warhawks. Texas State did not slow down however, as they used a 7-1 scoring run to increase its lead, 10-2. Though, TXST never lost its edge, ULM did put together a 4-0 run to trim the lead to 17-12, but the Bobcats answered by scoring eight of final 12 points for a 25-16 win. TXST hit .500 in the set and registered three total blocks. Fitzgerald had six kills and two blocks to lead the team.
 
Set 3
The Bobcats began to create separation with a 4-0 run that made the score 7-3 and forced a Warhawk timeout. The run continued on the other side of the break as the home team used a 10-2 margin to build a 14-5 lead. ULM used a few runs to trim the deficit as low as four points at 20-16, but TXST concluded the match with a 5-2 run for the 25-18 victory. Sophomore outside hitter Lauren Teske led the Bobcats with four kills, followed by Slaughter's three kills.
 
UP NEXT
Texas State and ULM will return to Strahan Arena tonight for a 6 p.m. match.
 
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