SAN MARCOS, Texas – Junior outside hitter Janell Fitzgerald recorded her 1,000th career kill Tuesday night, but Texas State fell to No. 2 Texas in three sets, 11-25, 11-25, 21-25 at Strahan Arena.

Fitzgerald becomes the 17th Bobcat in program history to join the 1,000-kill club and is the first since Amari Deardorff in 2010-13.

The Bobcats (27-7, 15-1 Sun Belt) struggled offensively, as they hit .000 threw the first two sets before concluding the match with a .067 hitting percentage thanks to a .167 attacking percentage in the third set. The Longhorns (20-0, 14-0 Big 12) hit .419 in the match and held the advantage in assists (49-21), aces (6-4), blocks (7-1), and digs (59-42).   

"We knew this would be a tough stretch, but I am disappointed in how we performed tonight," said head coach Sean Huiet. "I do not want to take anything away from Texas. They are a great team and the No. 2 team in the country, but we did not respond how I wanted, so I am disappointed tonight."

Sophomore outside hitter Lauren Teske led the team with six kills, nine digs, and was one of four players to register one ace. Fitzgerald followed with five kills, and junior setter Emily DeWalt led the team with 14 assists. DeWalt also had five digs and one ace. 

Texas had two players with double-doubles, beginning with junior outside hitter Logan Eggleston's 14 kills, 13 digs, and added one ace and one block. Sophomore OH Skylar Fields followed with 12 kills on 20 attacks and one error (.550). Sophomore middle blocker Asjia O'Neal and freshman outside Melanie Parra each had 10 kills, and Parra added 11 digs. Junior setter Jhenna Gabriel had match-highs of 39 assists and three aces.  

Set 1
The Longhorns scored the first three points and built a 7-1 lead to force a Bobcat timeout. Texas held its comfortable lead and pushed the margin to 14 points behind a 5-0 run and won the set, 25-11. The Bobcats finished the frame with a .000, while the Longhorns hit .533 and had two blocks.

Set 2
The Bobcats started down early but scored four unanswered points to take their first lead of the match at 8-7 and Texas signaled for a timeout. Texas scored the next four points out of the break to regained an 11-8 advantage, and although the Bobcats responded with a 3-1 run, the Longhorns caught fire and won the set 25-11 behind a 12-0 run.

Set 3
The third set was the most competitive for the Bobcats. Though the stanza had three ties, there were no lead changes as the Longhorns won a tight 25-21 set to win the match. The home team hit .167 in the set, which was the highest of all three stanzas and had their lone block in the match.

UP NEXT
Texas State will challenge TCU at 1 p.m. on Thursday, March 18 at Strahan Arena in San Marcos, Texas.

Stay updated on everything Texas State volleyball by following the team on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

-- TXSTATEBOBCATS.COM --