SAN MARCOS, TX — Prior to this weekend, Texas State and Southern Miss's volleyball programs have never met on a volleyball court. Two days later, the Golden Eagles are heading back to Hattiesburg, Miss., now knowing who
Janell Fitzgerald is, especially after the Bobcats' four-set win Saturday afternoon.
With
Emily DeWalt directing a Texas State offense that concluded Saturday's action with a .368 attack percentage, it was Fitzgerald who took full opportunity to DeWalt's sets as the reigning conference preseason offensive player of the year posted a season-high 25 kills on a .375 attack percentage. She added two block assists to her stat line to finished with a match-leading 26.0 points.
By the time Texas State put a lid on the first set, Fitzgerald had already totaled nine kills and zero attack errors on
just 11 total attacks for an .818 attack percentage. She was up to 19 kills and a .400 attack percentage well before the end of the third set.
Fitzgerald's offensive performance against Southern Miss on Saturday marked the second time this season she finished a match with 20-or-more kills after posting 21 in a four-set win at TCU on Sept. 17, 2022. The 25 kills versus the Golden Eagles were the most by Fitzgerald since posting a career-high 30 kills at Arkansas State on Nov. 7, 2020.
FROM HEAD COACH SEAN HUIET
"I was really proud of our resiliency today. We know Southern Miss is a really good team and we know Mia (Wesley) is one of the best offensive players in the country. We knew they were going to come back (from last night's match) with something different. We know we aren't going to sweep everyone, but the way our team came back and battled after that second set was nice to see. How we regrouped (after that second set), it just showed the confidence of the team and showed the maturity of this team. I thought we did a really great job during those third and fourth sets. It was really nice to see everyone bounce back during those sets and put the stamp on the match."
FROM LIBERO JACQUELINE LEE
"I feel like we were doing a really good job of setting up our blocks. Our blocks were getting a lot of touches. Yesterday, they were phenomenal and today, they were great as well. We were just trying to be gritting on defense, honestly. It was something we were trying to work on a lot in practice this week. We didn't want the ball to hit the floor today."
STAT LEADERS
SCORES BY SET
- 1st | Texas State 25, Southern Miss 18
- 2nd | Southern Miss 25, Texas State 18
- 3rd | Texas State 25, Southern Miss 16
- 4th | Texas State 25, Southern Miss 16
MATCH NOTES
- Saturday afternoon's match provided a lot of different opportunities for Texas State's Emily DeWalt, but the 23-time Sun Belt Setter of the Week took advantage of the Southern Miss defense as the graduate student matched her career high with nine kills. It's the first time DeWalt has reached that number since March 4, 2021, when the Bobcats won in Kansas State in five sets.
- While Lauren Teske has dominated the offensive aspect of Texas State volleyball matches over the last three matches, the redshirt-senior outside hitter turned in a third consecutive quality defensive effort Saturday afternoon by matching her career high with 16 digs against the Golden Eagles. It's the first time Teske has reached the 16-dig plateau playing Cincinnati on Aug. 27, 2021.
- Speaking of Teske, the Schertz, Texas native has doubled her career double-double total over the last three Texas State volleyball matches. Prior to last Saturday's four-set win at Louisiana, Teske had only three career double-doubles. Combing her performance against the Ragin' Cajuns on that day and this weekend's two matches against Southern Miss, Teske will travel to Mobile, Ala., for next week's two-match series at South Alabama with six career double-doubles.
- And, on the talk of double-doubles, sophomore libero Jacqueline finished one assist shy of her first career double-double as The Woodlands native finished Saturday's four-set match with 19 digs and nine assists. Both of those statistics were career highs for Lee.
- While dominating Saturday's match from the setter position, Emily DeWalt nearly finished with a triple-double as the four-time Sun Belt Setter of the Year posted a 48-assist, 9-kill and 7-dig stat line against the Golden Eagles.
UP NEXT
- Texas State (15-5, 7-1) will travel to the Yellowhammer State for a two-match series at South Alabama (13-7, 7-1) beginning at 6 PM CT on Friday, Oct. 21. The Jaguars are currently on a six-match winning streak following a two-match sweep against Louisiana over the weekend.
- Texas State and South Alabama last met in last season's Sun Belt Conference Championship match in Foley, Ala., with the Jaguars snapping the Bobcats' streak of three consecutive conference championships with a three-set win.
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.
