SAN MARCOS, TX — When a team is playing an opponent for the first time, there can be a lot of unknowns and mysteries. But, during Texas State's three-set victory against Southern Miss on Friday night, there were no secrets about what the Golden Eagles were going to do.
Coming into the weekend, Mia Wesley's name was either at or near the top of numerous offensive categories among Sun Belt student-athletes. The Southern Miss outside hitter is averaging just under five kills per set (4.90) so far this season, which is 0.66 percent higher than the next closest student-athlete in the league, Troy's Tori Hester at 4.24.
The Texas State volleyball coaching staff knew the Golden Eagle offense was going to flow through the Orem, Utah native Friday night. And it did.
Of Southern Miss' 121 total attacks throughout the three sets, Wesley accounted for 48, or 36.7 percent. Cara Atkinson and Cailin Demps were the next closest Golden Eagle to Wesley's total. And the duo recorded 14 attacks each. Of Southern Miss' 37 kills, Wesley was credited with 11. Demps was the next closest at eight.
But it was the difference in the number of kills and total attacks that played for Texas State's advantage Friday night.
As Wesley finished with 11 kills and three attack errors on 48 total attacks — for a .167 attack percentage — Texas State capitalized, defensively, with 61 digs. The most by the Bobcats in a three-set match so far this season. The ability to dig Wesley's attacks allowed the Bobcat offense to get going as
Emily DeWalt, who was named the league's setter of the week for the 23rd career time three days earlier, turned 39 of those digs into assists and
Lauren Teske (14) and
Janell Fitzgerald (13) both finished with double-figure kills.
FROM HEAD COACH SEAN HUIET
"I thought that was a fun win. We've been telling our team we like where we are at. We are in a great spot. We are trending up and playing really, really consistent, while battling some injuries, but the best part is that we have kids who step up every night. I thought that was a really good win against a really good team."
FROM OUTSIDE HITTER LAUREN TESKE
"I just think we knew our serving game was off, and so we were going to have to defend really well, which is a big thing when another team has a really good offensive player. We were going to have to know where (Mia Wesley) was on the court at all times. She was really active on the backrow, too, so we just had to know where she was at all times and just get really gritty with defense. And I thought we did that tonight. There were a lot of long rallies we could've given up during, but we stuck those out. We knew it was going to be a fight and we were prepared for it."
STATS LEADER
SCORES BY SET
- 1st | Texas State 25, Southern Miss 21
- 2nd | Texas State 25, Southern Miss 18
- 3rd | Texas State 25, Southern Miss 23
MATCH NOTES
- The announced attendance of 1,330 for Friday night's match was a season high for the Texas State volleyball program, surpassing the previous mark of 1,237 set against Ole Miss on Sept. 10, 2022. Friday night marked the fourth overall time — and second time against a conference opponent — this season 1,000-or-more fans have paid to watch the Bobcats play a volleyball match.
- By appearing in tonight's match, Emily DeWalt surpassed the 150 career matches played milestone, becoming the fourth Texas State volleyball student-athlete to accomplish the feat joining Tyeranee Scott (2017-21), Brooke Johnson (2017-21) and Janell Fitzgerald (2018-P). The quartet of Bobcat student-athletes are the only student-athletes in Sun Belt history to reach the 150 career matches played plateau.
- With Friday night's victory, Texas State's third-year head coach Sean Huiet won his 65th career match. Of those 65 victories, 35 have now happened against Sun Belt opponents during the regular season. Texas State's three-set win over Southern Miss Friday night marked the program's 130th victory in Sun Belt action.
- Friday night's win was the first-ever victory for Texas State over Southern Miss, which joined the Sun Belt Conference prior to the start of the 2022-23 athletic year. Prior to this weekend, the two volleyball programs have never met on the court.
- On the heels of Emily DeWalt and Lauren Teske's double-doubles against the Golden Eagles Friday night, the Texas State volleyball program has now had multiple student-athletes record double-doubles in back-to-back matches for the second time this season. Earlier this season, DeWalt (assists, digs) and Janell Fitzgerald (kills, digs) went for double-doubles against Wake Forest, before DeWalt (assists, digs) and Caitlan Buettner (kills, digs) did so against Abilene Christian. Last Saturday, DeWalt (assists, digs), Teske (kills, digs) and Fitzgerald (kills, digs) all recorded double-doubles at Louisiana and Friday night, DeWalt (assists, digs) and Teske (kills, digs) made it back-to-back.
UP NEXT
- Texas State (14-5, 6-1) will look for its 15th win on the season when the Bobcats wrap up their two-game weekend series against Southern Miss (12-7, 4-3) at 2 p.m. CT on Saturday, Oct. 15.
FOLLOW US
- For the latest information on the team, follow @TexasStateVball on Twitter, @TxStateVolleyball on Instagram and Facebook. General athletic news can also be at @TxStateBobcats on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
