FOLEY, Ala. — It was a tightly-guarded achievement, but Texas State's three-set win over Troy in its opening match of the 2021 Sun Belt Conference Tournament meant a little extra to head coach
Sean Huiet.
With the win, Huiet, in just his second season at the helm of the prestigious Texas State volleyball program, was credited with his 50th career win as head coach. In his first campaign as head coach last season, Huiet's squad was the only Division I volleyball program to win 30-or-more matches as Texas State ended its season with a nation-leading 31 wins. Of those 31 wins, 19 came against Sun Belt Conference opponents.
This season, Texas State has earned 19 wins with 15 coming against conference opponents. The Bobcats have reeled off 13 straight wins dating back to a four-set match against Louisiana on Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021.
Huiet became the second-fastest head coach in program history to reach the milestone as it took Susan Duke (1970-1972) just 63 matches to reach the mark. Huiet did so in 70.
FROM HEAD COACH SEAN HUIET
"It's always good to get that first win (of the conference tournament). I like when you have the bye, because your program is able to get a little more rest, and like Tyeranee (Scott) said, it feels like we've been here for a couple of days with just practicing. You always get a little nervous, though, with that bye, because if a team gets hot and gets going a little bit, that can cause some issues. I thought Troy played really well yesterday, so tonight was good; a little sluggish at times but it was a good match to get us going to start what we want to do this weekend."
FROM SENIOR MIDDE BLOCKER TYERANEE SCOTT
"I still feel like I could've done more, but whenever I'm off in one area — for example, I didn't think I did too hot in blocking tonight — I try to back it up in another area and tonight I tried to do that with my offense. Hopefully, that's something I can work on in practice tomorrow and do a better job at when we play Coastal (Carolina)."
STAT LEADERS
SCORES BY SET
- 1st | Texas State 25, Troy 21
- 2nd | Texas State 25, Troy 19
- 3rd | Texas State 25, Troy 19
MATCH NOTES
- With its .393 hitting percentage against Troy Friday night, the Texas State offense has recorded a .300-or-higher hitting percentage in nine matches against Sun Belt Conference teams this season, including both matches against the Trojans this season.
- Friday night also marked the 11th time the Texas State defense has held a conference opponent to a sub-.200 hitting percentage, including six of its last seven matches with ULM being the lone exception at .202 on Friday, Nov. 12.
- Janell Fitzgerald, the newly appointed Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Year ran her streak of consecutive matches with double-digit kills to eight in a row following a 13-kill performance Friday night. Fitzgerald, who had an error-less match against ULM on Friday, Nov. 12, 2020, was not credited with her first attack error of the match until 4-3 in the third set and by that time, she had already accounted for 10 kills on the match.
UP NEXT
- Texas State will now turn its attention to a familiar opponent as the Bobcats will play Coastal Carolina in the conference tournament semifinals at 6:30 p.m. CT on Saturday, Nov. 20. The two programs met earlier this season with the Bobcats winning in three sets on Friday, Oct. 22.
- For the latest information on the team, follow @TexasStateVball on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. General athletic news can also be at @TxStateBobcats on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
