SAN MARCOS, TX — After spending the first two weeks of the 2022 Division I volleyball season on the road, the Texas State volleyball program finally played in front of his home fans inside Strahan Arena as the Bobcats opened their annual Bobcat Invitational with a three-set match against Sam Houston and a four-set thriller against Ole Miss on Friday. 

Following the first match of the invitational — Ole Miss and Sam Houston — at 10 a.m., Texas State and the Bearkats were slated for a 2 p.m. first serve. And the Bobcats took much of the first set getting the jitters out. 

Despite Caitlan Buettner opening the match with the first of her career-high six service aces, Sam Houston (3-7) responded by taking an 8-2 lead, which quickly ballooned into a 12-4 Bearkat advantage. But the Bobcats battled back to tie the match at 17-17 on a Janell Fitzgerald kill. Fitzgerald's play to tie the score was part of a span that saw the outside hitter score five of her team's seven points. 

Once Texas State (5-3) took a 19-18 lead on an Alyssa Ortega service ace, the Bobcats never trailed the Bearkats at any point throughout the rest of the match. 

Again, Texas State opened a match Friday with a service ace as Emily DeWalt did so in the Bobcats' match against Ole Miss (2-4). 

But unfortunately, the match didn't end as similarly as the previous one as, after dropping the first two sets to the Rebels, Texas State battled back to win the third and create momentum and an opportunity. That opportunity was short lived, though, as Ole Miss hurried out to a 10-2 lead in the fourth set. The Rebels held a 20-11 advantage in a blink of an eye. 

However, Texas State put on full display — for the 1,247 in attendance — its fight was the Bobcats went on a 7-1 scoring run to get to within three. But the Rebels went on to close out the match with a four-point run. 

FROM HEAD COACH SEAN HUIET

"We actually talked about (finally being able to play at home) earlier today. It's nice to be able to sleep in your own bed and go through a normal gameday routine. I knew the (attendance number) would be strong, so we were glad we were able to give them to cheer about. We really wanted to give them the win against Ole Miss, especially because of all the love and support everyone showed throughout the day, but I thought we put on a pretty good job … for the most part."

STAT LEADERS

• Kills – Janell Fitzgerald (29)
• Assists – Emily DeWalt (65)
• Service Aces – Caitlan Buettner (6)
• Digs – Alyssa Ortega (31)
• Blocks – Tessa Marshall (5.0)

SCORES BY SET

Sam Houston 

• 1st | Texas State 25, Sam Houston 20
• 2nd | Texas State 25, Sam Houston 18
• 3rd | Texas State 25, Sam Houston 17

Ole Miss

• 1st | Ole Miss 25, Texas State 23
• 2nd | Ole Miss 25, Texas State 21
• 3rd | Texas State 25, Ole Miss 21
• 4th | Ole Miss 25, Texas State 18

MATCH NOTES

• In Texas State's tournament-opening match against Sam Houston, Megan Woods earned the first starting assignment of her Bobcat career. The junior middle blocker out of Yorba Linda, Calif., by way of El Dorado High School, stepped into the starting line in place of Tessa Marshall, who did not participate in the match. Woods appeared in all three sets of the Bobcats' win over the Bearkats and was credited with two block assists, one kill and a dig. 
• Alyssa Clark became the latest of Texas State's freshmen class to make her collegiate volleyball debut. Two weeks after Maggie Walsh appeared in the Bobcats' season-opening win against Houston Baptist on Aug. 26 and one week after Bailey Hanner made her collegiate debut at Hawaii on Sept. 1, Clark enter the Bobcats' win over Sam Houston late in the third set. She finished with two digs in only one set of game action. 
• Speaking of firsts, Maggie Walsh was credited with her first career kill when recorded back-to-back kills late in the third set of Texas State's three-set over Sam Houston. 
• Providing the Texas State coaching staff with a reliable option at the libero position, first-year Bobcat Alyssa Ortega extended her streak of consecutive matches played with double-digit digs to five in a row following Friday's action. Ortega began the day with a 14-dig performance against Sam Houston, before going for a season-high 17 against Ole Miss during the night. 

UP NEXT

• After playing two matches on the opening day of the Bobcat Invitational, the Texas State volleyball program will take a break in the action on Saturday, before concluding the weekend's action on Sunday, Sept. 11 against Wake Forest at 12 p.m.

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. 

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