HARRISONBURG, Virginia — Texas State volleyball saw a 3-0 loss in the rematch of the 2022 Sun Belt Conference Championship when it visited James Madison on Thursday night.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Bobcats started even with the Dukes. The two sides were matching points through the beginning of the first set, but a 6-0 run by the Dukes to make things 12-6 put a gap between the two sides that Texas State worked to fight back from. Despite Johnson's five kills, the gap was too large for the Bobcats to overcome. They ended set one on a 6-1 run which helped the team carry momentum into set two. The first set went to the home side by a 25-19 score line.
Set two may have had the same end score of 25-19, but the set was completely different for the Bobcats. Texas State held within two points until the end of the set. The Dukes went on a 5-1 run to make the score 23-19. Despite this, with five lead changes and nine tied scores, it was a close matchup between the two. The late run by the Dukes was too much for the Bobcats to overcome, though, and JMU took set two 25-19 as well.
Texas State showed well in the third set but were unable to force a fourth set. Texas State held the Dukes below a .200 hitting percentage for the second straight set and it showed in the even-keeled scoring. The two sides were close most of the set outside of the slight 12-7 lead the home side held. The Bobcats rallied back from the five-point deficit, though, and made it a tie game again at 17 points each. From there the two teams battled for each point, but the Dukes took the slight edge. After nearly staging the comeback and drawing the score 24-23, a kill by JMU's Bre Reid would end the match with a 3-0 sweep for the home side.
STAT LEADERS
SCORES BY SET
- 1st | James Madison 25, Texas State 19
- 2nd | James Madison 25, Texas State 19
- 3rd | James Madison 25, Texas State 23
MATCH NOTES
- The Bobcats sit at 9-5 on the season and 2-1 in Sun Belt Conference play with the loss to James Madison.
- Libero Alyssa Ortega tied her career highs in service aces (4) and digs (21) in match versus James Madison.
- Head coach Sean Huiet sits at 84 career wins, with an 84-33 record in his four-year tenure at Texas State. He has a 45-6 record in Sun Belt Conference games.
UP NEXT:
The Bobcats will head see the Dukes again tomorrow night at 5 p.m. (CT) for the series finale. Next week the Bobcats will return home for a pair of matches with Louisiana on Oct. 6 and 7.
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.
