MOBILE, Ala. — Something had to change as both Texas State and South Alabama did not back down despite five match points between the two in the late stages of the Friday night's fourth set. Then Bobcat head coach
Sean Huiet went with a gut feeling.
After
Janell Fitzgerald recorded her 25th kill to tie the set at 29-29, Huiet signaled towards the bench for his redshirt-junior defensive specialist from Buda, Texas.
Kayla Tello subbed into the match for
Jillian Slaughter, whose spot in the rotation was due to serve.
No one on either team — other than Tello — served a volleyball for the remainder of the match.
Tello took the volleyball. Pulled up her right sleeve, then bounced the ball six times. The 5-foot-6 defensive specialist took two steps, flung the volleyball into the air, and swung her right arm. She sent the ball flying towards South Alabama's Briana Wilson, who ultimately committed a reception error to give Texas State a 30-29 lead.
Texas State, now with its third match point on the evening, had the momentum after its fifth ace in the match. And it paid off.
With Tello back to serve, again, she sent the volleyball towards Maddie Soboleski that altered South Alabama's offense as after Soboleski's reception made the connection between Kailey Keeble and Morgan Stalcup slightly untimed. This resulted in Fitzgerald being able to easily dig Stalcup's attack, which led to Torres setting a perfect set for Fitzgerald who capped the match with her match-leading 26th kill.
FROM HEAD COACH SEAN HUIET
"It was crunch time and (
Kayla Tello) has a really good serve. I thought about it the rotation before that, but Jill (Slaughter) has been serving great, too, so it's not like Jill isn't a great server. But I said to myself, "I think Tello has this," so shoutout to going with the gut feeling, because it paid off in a huge way. I just knew (Tello) could do it."
FROM DEFENSIVE SPECIALIST KAYLA TELLO
"Honestly, when (Coach Huiet) put me in, I just wanted to do it for my team. Before every serve, I just try to stay calm and tell myself that I can do this. Then I go and try to execute just that."
STAT LEADERS
SCORES BY SET
- 1st | Texas State 25, South Alabama 15
- 2nd | Texas State 25, South Alabama 19
- 3rd | South Alabama 25, Texas State 23
- 4th | Texas State 31, South Alabama 29
MATCH NOTES
- With the four-set win Friday night, Texas State snapped South Alabama's 20-match home winning streak, which was the second-longest home winning streak in the nation. The last time the Jaguars lost at home was Friday, Oct. 16, 2020, when Coastal Carolina knocked off the Jaguars in four sets, too.
- Lauren Teske finished Friday evening's match with her fourth consecutive double-double as the redshirt-senior capped the night with a 17-kill, 16-dig performance. It's the second consecutive 16-dig outing for the outside hitter, which ties her career high. Teske's streak of four straight double-doubles is the longest by a Bobcat outside hitter since Janell Fitzgerald had six in a row from Oct. 29, 2021 to Nov. 13, 2021.
- Friday night marked the 11th time this season Emily DeWalt surpassed the 40-assist mark in a match as the four-time Sun Belt Setter of the Year went for 43 in four sets.
- By finishing Friday evening's match against South Alabama with 26 kills, Janell Fitzgerald has now been credited with 25-or-more kills in back-to-back matches for the first time in her Texas State career. She finished last Saturday's match against Southern Miss with 25 to precede Friday's total.
- With her 26 kills against South Alabama on Friday night, Janell Fitzgerald is now only 38 kills shy of passing Makeda Smith (1994-98) for the program's career kills record.
UP NEXT
- Texas State (16-5, 8-1) will look for its second consecutive win over South Alabama (13-8, 7-2) when the two programs continue this weekend's two-match series at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 22 in Mobile, Ala.
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.
