HONOLULU, Hawaii — In a five-set thriller that saw three new Bobcat career highs set, Texas State fell narrowly to the Hawaii Rainbow Wahine on Saturday night. Despite career-high nights from MJ McCurdy (17 kills), Jade Defraeye (13 kills) and Samantha Wunsch (6 blocks), the Bobcats were unable to come back in the 5^th set to win and fell 3-2 to end the Outrigger Invitational.
 
McCurdy and Bailey Hanner were Texas State's representatives on the 2024 Outrigger Invitational All-Tournament team. 
 
The Rainbow Wahine started off set one well with some efficient attacks early on. Caylen Alexander went for nine kills alone in the first set, and would go on to finish the night with 38. She helped the Rainbow Wahine get out to a three point lead late in the first set to give Hawaii a 25-22 win in the opening set.
 
Texas State started set two swinging equally as efficiently. Highlighted by six kills from Wunsch and five from McCurdy, the Bobcats found themselves with a five point lead early and an eight point lead at the second timeout. From there, the Bobcats limited the Hawaii offense, holding them to just 12 kills while swinging .111 through set two. Texas State won set two 25-19, the largest score split of the match.
 
The Rainbow Wahine offense got back into a rhythm in the third set while their defense forced the Bobcats into a couple of costly errors. However, despite losing the set 25-21, Texas State carried some momentum into set 4. 
 
Set four was a back and forth battle between the two sides throughout the first nine points. The two sides continued to trade off points until the match was tied 14-14. From there, three straight attack errors from Hawaii gave the Bobcats the momentum they needed. After going up 18-15, the Bobcats held a three point or greater lead the remainder of the set until ultimately winning 25-21. The Bobcat offense had fewer kills than the Rainbow Wahine in set four, but their zero errors to Hawaii's eight were the difference in set four.
 
Set five saw eight tied scores and four lead changes in what turned into a nail biter of a final set. Texas State went up 4-2 early on in the set, but after the Rainbow Wahine battled back, it was a back-and-forth affair to the end. With things tied 10-10, Hawaii was able to get four-straight unanswered points. Despite the Bobcats battling for two more points on match point, Hawaii still came away with a 15-12 win in set five to take the match.
 
Texas State finished their time in Hawaii with a 1-2 record and went 1-1 in the Outrigger Invitational. The team now sits at 4-4 on the season with three more matches before the start of Sun Belt Conference play on Sept. 27.

STAT LEADERS

• Kills – MJ McCurdy (17)
• Assists – Ryann Torres (52)
• Service Aces – Bailey Hanner (2)
• Blocks – Jade Defraeye (7)
• Digs – Alyssa Ortega (18)

 
SCORES BY SET

• 1st | Texas State 22, Hawaii 25
• 2nd | Texas State 25, Hawaii 19
• 3rd | Texas State 21, Hawaii 25
• 4^th | Texas State 25, Hawaii 21
• 5^th | Texas State 12, Hawaii 15

UP NEXT
Texas State will continue the road slate for a tournament at UTEP beginning on Sept. 20 at 4 pm versus Texas A&M – Corpus Christi. This weekend will be the Bobcats final non-conference matchups of the season, with conference play beginning Sept. 27^th at Louisiana. The Bobcats will not return home until Oct. 4 vs Troy as part of Show 'Em State Weekend inside Strahan Arena.

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