FOLEY, Ala. — A bid for a historic fourth-straight Sun Belt Conference tournament championship came up one match short for the Texas State's volleyball program as the Bobcats fell in three sets to South Alabama in Sunday's championship match.
Sunday's outcome halted a streak of three straight conference tournament titles for the Bobcats, which was the longest such streak for a Sun Belt Conference volleyball program since Little Rock won three straight titles from 1996 to 1998. However, the year after the Trojans' streak ended, Little Rock returned to the tournament in 2000 to win its fourth title in five years; a feat Texas State (20-12, 14-2) will attempt to repeat in 2022.
FROM HEAD COACH SEAN HUIET
"It wasn't our day. That wasn't Texas State volleyball. That wasn't what I expected going into today. I thought today was going to be a battle. We are disappointed. We want to be playing for championships, yes, but we also want to be on the other side (of today's outcome). It was just not our day today. South Alabama earned it today and we didn't play our best.
"I thought Jada (Gardner) and Caitlan (Buettner) both played really well this weekend. Earlier in the tournament, people were keying on (Janell and Tyeranee) so that opened things up. Today, I thought those two did a good job of slowing (South Alabama) down, but we just couldn't get Janell and other people going. For both outsides to be on the All-Tournament team, I thought they played at a really high level this weekend."
STAT LEADERS
SCORES BY SET
- 1st | South Alabama 25, Texas State 19
- 2nd | South Alabama 25, Texas State 23
- 3rd | South Alabama 25, Texas State 13
MATCH NOTES
- Texas State junior outside hitter Caitlan Buettner and graduate transfer Jada Gardner were selected to the Sun Belt Conference All-Tournament team following Sunday's match. The duo combined for 60 (Buettner 30, Gardner 30) of the Bobcats' 128 total kills (46.9 percent) in nine sets played throughout the tournament. Gardner also finished with 21 digs, while Buettner had seven block assists.
- Texas State fifth-year senior middle blocker Tyeranee Scott finished her Bobcat volleyball playing career with 997 kills, just three shy of becoming the 18th student-athlete to be credited with 1,000 career kills in program history.
- The three-set loss for Texas State snapped a 10-match winning streak for the Bobcats in the Sun Belt Conference tournament dating back Nov. 19, 2017, when TXST fell to Coastal Carolina in four sets. Sunday afternoon's loss is the first conference tournament loss for 18 of the 20 student-athletes within the program and just the second for fifth-year seniors Tyeranee Scott and Brooke Johnson.
UP NEXT
- The Texas State volleyball program will head into its first regular offseason program since the end of the 2019 season. The Bobcats, which played both a fall and spring schedule in 2020, have played 72 volleyball matches since Sept. 4, 2020.
- 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.
