LAFAYETTE, La. — Everyone in the Sun Belt Conference knows about Texas State's offensive firepower — the Bobcats lead the league in hitting percentage, assists and kills per set average in conference-only matches — but what stood out to head coach
Sean Huiet in his team's three-set win at Louisiana Friday night was defense.
Texas State, which finished the match with a .330 attack percentage (43 kills and only 10 errors on 100 total attacks), held a "fast (Louisiana) offense" to a .123 attack percentage. No Ragin' Cajuns student-athletes finished the match with more than eight kills, while Kelsey Bennett led the team — among those with double-digit attacks — with a .222 attack percentage.
Louisiana becomes the ninth different Texas State opponent this season to finish a match with a .200-or-lower attack percentage. Each of the Bobcats' conference opponents so far this season have been held under that mark in at least one match against Texas State.
After the first set was tied at 12-12, Texas State turned up the pressure and went on a 13-6 scoring run and ultimately held Louisiana to a .030 attack percentage (nine kills and eight errors on 33 total attacks) by the end of the set. The Bobcats did much of the same throughout the third set, too, as the Ragin' Cajuns hit only .111 (eight kills with four errors on 36 total attacks) to seal the visitors' second consecutive and 23rd all-time win over Louisiana.
FROM HEAD COACH SEAN HUIET
"That's the best we've played in a while and that's just how the season has gone so far. We know Louisiana is a really good team and we knew they were going to bring a fast offense at us tonight and we've worked on that all week. But I thought that was the most balanced we've been, too. We challenged them early with the defensive side of things and I thought they did a really good job."
FROM LIBERO JACQUELINE LEE
"We worked a lot in practice on preparing for (Louisiana's) offense, because we knew they were going to have a lot of tough swings throughout the entirety of the match. We also did a lot of 1-on-1 drills in practice, too, that really helped us get ready and be prepared, defensively. We went into tonight's match really prepared — mentally and physically — to be digging (attacks) and put pressure on (Louisiana).
STAT LEADERS
SCORES BY SET
- 1st | Texas State 25, Louisiana 18
- 2nd | Texas State 25, Louisiana 19
- 3rd | Texas State 25, Louisiana 15
MATCH NOTES
- Texas State outside hitter Janell Fitzgerald turned in her 20th career double-double as the graduate student finished Friday night's match with 11 kills and 13 digs. The performance was Fitzgerald's seventh double-double on the season and first against a conference foe.
- Despite missing the two-match series at ULM two weeks ago, Texas State outside hitter Caitlan Buettner, with her offensive outing against the Ragin' Cajuns, has turned hit three consecutive matches against conference opponents with an attack percentage of .344-or-higher. Of those three matches, Buettner has two performances with an attack percentage of .425-or-higher: .425 against JMU on Friday, Sept. 30 and .429 against Louisiana on Friday night.
- Friday evening's match against Louisiana marked the 10th time this season the Texas State offense has finished a match with a .300-or-higher attack percentage. The Bobcats have accomplished that feat in four of their five Sun Belt matches so far this season.
- Maggie Walsh, in her third career start — all of which have been against Sun Belt opponents — finished with one service ace and seven digs. She was one of three Bobcat volleyball student-athletes with at least one service ace, while her dig total was the fifth highest on the team.
- With Friday night's win, Texas State is now 5-0 under third-year head coach Sean Huiet against Louisiana in matches played in Lafayette, La.
UP NEXT
- Texas State (12-5, 4-1) will look for its third consecutive win and second two-match sweep of the Sun Belt Conference's two Louisiana programs when the Bobcats and Louisiana (9-5, 3-2) play, again, at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 8 in Lafayette, La.
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.
