SAN MARCOS, TX — Every final home regular-season contest is a
test for any sport program, especially with emotions at an all-time high. Through it all, though, the Texas State volleyball program passed its final exam before heading to the beach next week as the Bobcats knocked off Troy in four sets Saturday afternoon.
As the emotions of the final regular-season home match wore off as the match progressed, third-year head coach
Sean Huiet challenged his team.
"(Troy) hasn't seen the best of us yet. Go show them," he said.
Texas State won the second, third and fourth sets of Saturday's volleyball match. And each set, Trojans' number of points decreased, even after Troy took the first set: 25 to 19 to 16 to 7. The seven points allowed were the fewest by a Bobcat team to a conference opponent since allowing eight in the second set of a three-set Texas State win in Monroe, La., on Nov. 12, 2021.
The Texas State productivity on Saturday was fueled by a season-high 11 service aces, the most by a Bobcat team in a single match since … Friday night as Texas State had 10. The 21 service aces for Texas State in the two matches against Troy were the most for the Bobcats in a two-match span this season since having 18 in two matches against UIW on Aug. 27.
By finishing with a match-high four service aces on Saturday,
Alyssa Ortega led the Sun Belt Conference with a 1.20 service aces per set average, .20 percentage points higher than the next closest Sun Belt student-athlete.
FROM HEAD COACH SEAN HUIET
"With it being the last set of home matches for these nine student-athletes who helped continue make this program what it is today, we all tried not to look at each other because we knew how emotional we'd get, and we needed to take care of business today. I think once we got through that first set – similar to last night – we were able to settle down and play more volleyball the way we know how, especially during that fourth set. I'm so thankful for what these group of young women have done for not only myself but this program and university. I'm forever grateful for them."
FROM SETTER EMILY DEWALT
"We just talked about (their serve receive) all week at practice, because they have a really shallow serve receive pattern so we just wanted to try to push them. I thought the serve receive ratio tonight was really, really good, so it's always a plus when you're able to capitalize on that aspect of the match."
STAT LEADERS
SCORES BY SET
- 1st | Troy 25, Texas State 19
- 2nd | Texas State 25, Troy 19
- 3rd | Texas State 25, Troy 16
- 4th | Texas State 25, Troy 7
MATCH NOTES
- With the win, the Texas State volleyball program has now won at least 20-or-more matches in a single season in seven consecutive seasons, dating back to the 2016 season.
- The Bobcats have won at least 19 matches in a single season every season since joining the Sun Belt Conference prior to the 2013 season.
- With the pair of wins this weekend, the Texas State volleyball program extended its active streak of consecutive seasons with at least 10-or-more wins in Sun Belt action to 10.
- The Bobcats have won double-figure conference matches every season since joining the league prior to the 2013 season.
- With Janell Fitzgerald on the court, Texas State is now 119-37 (.762) over the last five seasons.
- Against Sun Belt Conference teams, the Bobcats are 78-8 (.906) with Fitzgerald appearing in a match.
- The quartet of Jillian Slaughter, Janell Fitzgerald, Emily DeWalt and Lauren Teske have accumulated a 53-15 (.779) in home matches since the 2018 season.
- Of those 66 matches, the Bobcat quartet is 36-3 (.923) in regular-season conference matches inside Strahan Arena since 2018.
- With the win, Texas State became the first team in the Sun Belt to win 20 matches this season.
- James Madison is second with 19 following a win over Marshall Saturday afternoon.
UP NEXT
- With its home schedule now completed, Texas State (20-6, 12-2) will now travel to Myrtle Beach, S.C., for a two-match series at Coastal Carolina beginning at 5 p.m. CT on Thursday, Nov. 10. The two volleyball programs will conclude their regular seasons on Friday, Nov. 11 with a match beginning at 12 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.
