SAN MARCOS, Texas — Texas State volleyball started out Senior Weekend on the right foot with a 3-1 win over James Madison on Thursday night.
Highlighting the night was a 22-kill outing for Sam Wunsch as she hit .327 on the night. That, paired with 12 kills from
Bailey Hanner with a .346 attack percentage helped the Bobcats to 61 kills on the night.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Texas State started off on a strong foot, never relinquishing the lead throughout the first set. After matching points early on, the Bobcats started to pull away and even forced a James Madison time out when they went up 9-4. From there, the Bobcats kept rolling to a seven point lead when they went up 17-10. Highlighted by five kills from freshman MJ McCurdy, the Bobcats won set one 25-18.
The Dukes were able to stifle the Bobcats attack late in the second set. Despite a back-and-forth start to the set, the Dukes pulled away late, finishing the set on a 4-0 run. JMU forced the Bobcats to hit just .103 with eight kills and five errors in set two.
Despite that, though, the Bobcats came out in set three with a gritty performance. With 15 tied scores and eight lead changes, it could have gone either way. Texas State was able to tally 20 kills in the set, with eight from Wunsch alone. After taking the match all the way to 29-27, Texas State's
Bailey Hanner put the final nail in the coffin with a kill from a
Ryann Torres assist to win set three and give the Bobcats their advantage.
Set four started off close again, but it was two runs by the Bobcats that ultimately made a difference in the set. After going up 13-9, the Bobcats allowed James Madison back into the match and they leveled it at 15. From there, though, the Bobcats put together a run to go back up 21-17, highlighted by back-to-back kills by Hanner. With their lead in hand, the Bobcats steamrolled through the end of the set with big block from McCurdy and
Jade Defraeye. That late surge was enough for the Bobcats to seal a 25-19 win and the match in four sets.
STAT LEADERS
SCORES BY SET
- 1st | Texas State 25, James Madison 18
- 2nd | Texas State 21, James Madison 25
- 3rd | Texas State 29, James Madison 27
- 4th | Texas State 25, James Madison 19
UP NEXT
The Bobcats will close the regular season with James Madison tomorrow night at 6 pm inside Strahan Arena. This will be part of Senior Night for the Bobcats as they honor seniors
Ryann Torres and
Alyssa Ortega. Those matches will be Nov. 14 and 15 at 4:30 and 6 pm with tickets available for purchase at txst.com/tickets.
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.
