SAN MARCOS, TX — It's just something about playing Arkansas State that always creates memorable moments for
Janell Fitzgerald. And Friday night's three-set win for Texas State over the Red Wolves was no different.
Entering the match needing just 11 kills to pass Makenda Smith (1995-98) for the program's all-time career kills record, Fitzgerald, who recorded a career-high 30 kills at Arkansas State on Nov. 7, 2020, nearly accomplished that feat in the match's first set as the outside hitter had seven kills and only one attack error. However, it wasn't until the middle stages of the second set that history happened.
As the Bobcats lead 13-11,
Emily DeWalt, as she has so many times throughout her historic career, flung the ball in the air as Fitzgerald came around from behind the Bobcat setter and slid to the right, sending the ball towards the floor between multiple Red Wolve defenders to extend the Texas State lead and move ahead of Smith in the record books.
"With her last kill,
Janell Fitzgerald has become the program's new all-time career kills leader" rang from the speakers inside Strahan Arena as the public address announcer shared the news to all 1,025 in attendance during a timeout moments later.
Fitzgerald, despite being the lone Bobcat to finish Friday's action with double-figure kills, led a Texas State offense that had 11 student-athletes finish with at least one kill en route to concluding the match with a .446 attack percentage (45 kills and eight attack errors on 83 total attacks. The percentage was the second highest by the Bobcats in a match this season — .461 against Wake Forest on Sept. 11 — and the highest, outright, against a conference foe.
FROM HEAD COACH SEAN HUIET
"I thought we played really clean, to be honest. We started out really sluggish. We talked all season about wanting to play our style of volleyball and I thought we started off a little slow, but I loved how we played (tonight). We got a lot of kids in tonight. It was just a great team win. We knew Janell (Fitzgerald) and Emily (DeWalt) were close to getting a lot of records this year, so I'm just proud of Janell for not really thinking about it and just went out there and competed. She finished with 14 kills and hit .500, that's pretty dang good."
FROM OUTSIDE HITTER JANELL FITZGERALD
"Well, first, I couldn't have done anything without God's grace or my team. I'm truly blessed to play with such amazing women by my side. We've all worked so hard to be in the position we are. This is something I couldn't have imagined as a little girl. I'm very proud of the women's and student-athlete I've become. Thank you to every single coach who has helped me grow and did not give up on me. We're not done!"
STAT LEADERS
SCORES BY SET
- 1st | Texas State 25, Arkansas State 16
- 2nd | Texas State 25, Arkansas State 21
- 3rd | Texas State 25, Arkansas State 11
MATCH NOTES
- Freshman middle blocker Jade Defraeye finished Friday's match with a career-high four kills on four attacks. She added a solo block and block assist to finish with 5.5 points, the second highest by a Bobcat on the night.
- Fellow freshman middle blocker Bailey Hanner also matched her career high with two kills on four attacks against the Red Wolves. She also rotated to back row during the match's final set and was credited with a dig, her fourth career.
- By finishing Friday night's action with one block assist, Janell Fitzgerald tied Krisha Crosley (1993-96) for fifth place on the program's career block assist leaderboard.
- Caitlan Buettner, in her first action since Oct. 7 at Louisiana, finished with three kills and a block assist in two sets played off the bench.
- Arkansas State finished Friday's match with a .112 attack percentage (30 kills and 19 attack errors on 98 total attacks). The percentage was the fourth lowest by a Bobcat opponent this season and second lowest by a Sun Belt team in 2022. Overall, it's the 12th time the Texas State defense has held an opponent to a .200-or-lower attack percentage and sixth time against a conference foe.
UP NEXT
- Texas State (17-6, 9-2) will wrap up its two-match series against Arkansas State (5-18, 0-11) on Saturday, Oct. 29, when the two programs meet on the court at 1 p.m. CT.
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.
