DENTON, Texas – Texas State suffered its first road loss this season as they were upset by North Texas in straight sets, 22-25, 17-25, 22-25 on Monday afternoon at the North Texas Volleyball Center.
 
The Bobcats (25-3) were swept on the road for the first time since Sept. 24, 2019 when they fell at then No. 2 ranked Baylor at the Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas.
 
In the match against the Mean Green (4-5), the Bobcats hit .208 on 42 total kills and had four aces although they also committed 10 service errors. North Texas hit .244 in the upset with 34 total kills, had seven aces, and dominated the net with 12 blocks.
 
Senior middle blocker Tyeranee Scott led the Bobcats with 15 kills and a .462 hitting percentage. Junior outside hitter Janell Fitzgerald followed with 11 kills (.185) and had two blocks. Junior setter Emily DeWalt totaled 34 assists, and sophomore outside hitter Caitlan Buettner turned in 11 digs to go along with six kills.
 
Senior outside hitter Barbara Martin finished with 10 kills (.269) and added nine digs, five aces, and two blocks. Junior outside Rhett Robinson also had 10 kills (.192) and four blocks. Senior setter Kaliegh Skopal totaled 24 assists, and junior middle blocker Sarah Haeussler led all players with seven blocks in addition to six kills.
 
Set 1
UNT opened the frame by scoring the first two points of the match and built an 11-8 advantage behind a 7-1 run. The Bobcats responded with five unanswered points highlighted by three kills from Fitzgerald to put the visiting team ahead 17-14. The Mean Green continued to fight however, and regained the lead 22-21 and never looked back as they stole the first set 25-22 after scoring eight of the final nine points. TXST hit .205 in the set and had two aces, where UNT hit .222 and total three aces and five blocks. Fitzgerald led the team with five kills in the set (.400), and Scott followed with four kills (.300).
 
Set 2
The Bobcats played from behind early in set two as the Mean Green jumped out to a 5-0 start and led 11-5 before a timeout was called. TXST made up ground and trimmed the deficit to 15-11 to force a UNT timeout, and out of the break, junior libero Kayla Granado's ace made it a three-point match. But that would be as close as it would get as UNT finished strong again, outscoring TXST 10-5 to win the set 25-17.  
 
Set 3
The third set featured 14 ties (at 18) and four lead changes. The Bobcats took a 15-14 lead that grew to 17-14, but UNT put together a 6-1 scoring run to take a 20-18 lead to force a Bobcat timeout. Both clubs continued to trade points, but the Mean Green reached five first and won the set, 25-22.
 
UP NEXT
Texas State's road trip continues with a match against TCU at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 27 inside the Schollmaier Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.
 
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