SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Texas State opened its spring schedule by defeating I-35 rival UTSA 4-1 (25-23, 25-21, 24-26, 25-22) on Wednesday night at the UTSA Convocation Center.
 
It was a tight match after the three-month layoff but the Bobcats (25-2) pulled out the win hitting .269 in the match while holding the Roadrunners (2-4) to a .184 clip. The home team led the Bobcats in other categories, however, including digs (72-70), aces (9-4), and blocks (8-5). TXST did hold a 57-50 edge in assists.
 
"UTSA made us work tonight," said head coach Sean Huiet. "I was glad to see us fight back and get the win. It was not as clean as we would have liked, but it is early in our spring season. We will watch film and get back to work to keep getting better."
 
Junior outside hitter Janell Fitzgerald led all players with 14 kills (.333), followed by sophomore outside Caitlan Buettner who tallied 13 kills (.263), nine digs, and one block. Senior middle blocker Tyeranee Scott finished with 12 kills (.357) and had four digs and two blocks. Junior setter Emily DeWalt filled the stat sheet with 45 assists, eight digs, five kills, and two blocks, while both sophomore outside hitter Lauren Teske and senior setter Brooke Johnson each logged two aces. Johnson also led the team with 16 digs, and junior libero Kayla Granado recorded 14 digs.  
 
Junior outside hitter Kirby Smith had a double-double with 14 kills and 12 digs to go along with three aces. Sophomore outside hitter Hunter Coppola followed with 11 kills and two blocks, and junior middle blocker Alison Jennings had 10 kills (.400) and three blocks. Sophomore setter Courtney Walters directed the offense with 43 assists, and had eight digs, four kills, two blocks and an ace in the loss.
 
The Bobcats improve to 60-14 in the all-time series vs. UTSA and increase their winning streak to four matches.
 
Set 1
After trailing majority of the set, the Bobcats used a 5-1 run to take a late 19-18 lead. UTSA responded by scoring the next two points, but then committed a service error to make the set tied at 20. Fitzgerald found the floor to spark a 5-3 run to win the frame, 25-23. Fitzgerald led the team with five kills on 11 errorless swings (.455), while Scott and Teske concluded the set with four kills each.
 
Set 2
UTSA opened the second stanza by scoring the first three points, but the Bobcats scored seven of the next 10 points to take a 7-6 lead, highlighted by three kills from Fitzgerald, a kill by DeWalt and an ace from Teske. The Roadrunners jumped back on top, 8-7, but back-to-back kills by Buettner ignited an overall 10-6 scoring run, giving TXST a 17-14 edge and forcing a UTSA timeout. The Bobcats rolled from there to a 25-21 victory led by Buettner's four kills during a five-point stretch.
 
Set 3
For the third consecutive set, the Roadrunners started fast and led 4-0, but the Bobcats stayed the course and a 4-0 run gave the visiting club a 10-8 lead. UTSA kept the pressure on Texas State, however and grabbed a 16-14 lead highlighted by a 5-1 run, but the Bobcats scored five of the next seven points capped by a kill from junior outside hitter Kenedi Rutherford to give the Bobcats a 19-18 lead to force a UTSA timeout. Out of the break, both teams exchanged points, but UTSA's freshman middle blocker Amanda Ifeanyi's solo block initiated a Roadrunners' 5-1 run to pressure the Bobcats to call timeout. DeWalt registered a kill out of the break and an UTSA attack error tied the game at 23, and UTSA burned its final timeout. That was what the home team needed to get out over the hump as they scored three of the final four points to win the set, 26-24.  
 
Set 4
Again, the Roadrunners start the set with a 3-0 lead that ballooned to an 8-4 count, forcing a Bobcat timeout. UTSA continued to keep its lead and led 15-9, their largest of the night. The Bobcats pulled within one point behind a 7-2 run and ultimately put together another 4-0 run highlighted by junior middle blocker Jillian Slaughter's solo block to take a 21-20 lead. Walters tied the match with a kill, but Fitzgerald answered with consecutive kills and scored three of the final four points to complete the comeback with a 25-22 victory.
 
UP NEXT
Texas State will travel to play North Texas at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 18 at the North Texas Volleyball Center in Denton, Texas.
 
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