LAFAYETTE, Louisiana — The Bobcats got off to a 1-0 start in Sun Belt play in exciting fashion after a reverse sweep to beat Louisiana. Despite finding themselves down 2-0, the Bobcats battled back for a 3-2 win.

Highlighting the comeback was a season-best blocking effort from the Bobcats as they tallied 13.0 total blocks. Bailey Hanner also tallied a career-best 17 kills while swinging .370 (21-4-46) and Alyssa Ortega set a career-best dig total with 27.
 
The Bobcats are now 7-5 on the season and 1-0 in Sun Belt play.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The first set had the Ragin' Cajuns up early. They went on a  5-0 run to give themselves a 15-7 lead that the Bobcats were unable to overcome. Louisiana would go on to win set one 25-16. The Bobcats were able to keep set two closer, but Louisiana took that set 25-21 to go up 2-0 in the match.
 
Despite going down 2-0, the Bobcats continued to battle and find a way to keep themselves alive in the match. Through set three, Texas State went on a roll with their best hitting of the night. As a team, they hit .302 with 18 kills on 43 attacks with five errors. Despite a close start, after tying things up 13-13, the Bobcats went on a run started by an MJ McCurdy kill. That 6-1 run helped the Bobcats take a 19-14 lead, bookended by an ace from Ryann Torres. From there, the Bobcats went on to win the set on a 4-0 run with a kill from Sam Wunsch, two from Hanner, and a block from Hanner and Torres. Hanner led the Bobcats in blocks on the night with seven, which is a season-best for the junior. 
 
Set four was a defensive effort for the Bobcats as they held Louisiana to just .023 attack percentage, tallying just 10 kills with nine attack errors on their 43 attacks. The Bobcats attack continued to remain effective with 11 kills on 33 attempts with two errors. Set four's momentum swung when Jade Defraeye got the kill to tie things up 11-11. From there, three straight blocks from her, helped by Nina Moorer and Sam Wunsch, pushed the Bobcats to a 15-11 lead and forced a Louisiana time out. Out of the timeout, Texas State continued a run expanding their lead to 24-13 with help from Hanner and Wunsch. The Bobcats would go on to win the set 25-14 off a UL service error.
 
Texas State started set five off well, putting themselves up 5-3 as the Bobcat defense continued to show out. After a few points back and forth, Texas State put together three straight kills to make it 13-9. After giving up two points, the Bobcats took a timeout to regroup and went back-to-back kills with one from Defraeye and one from Wunsch to end the match.
 
Texas State completed its first reverse sweep since Aug. 31, 2023, when the Bobcats came back from behind to beat North Texas. 

STAT LEADERS

• Kills – Sam Wunsch (21)
• Assists – Ryann Torres (53)
• Blocks – Bailey Hanner (7)
• Digs – Alyssa Ortega (23)

 
SCORES BY SET

• 1st | Texas State 16, Louisiana 25
• 2nd | Texas State 21, Louisiana 25
• 3rd | Texas State 25, Louisiana 18
• 4th | Texas State 25, Louisiana 14
• 5th | Texas State 15, Louisiana 11

UP NEXT
The Bobcats will look for the series sweep tomorrow, Sept. 28 again versus Louisiana. The match will start at 1 pm. After this weekend the Bobcats will return home for a pair of matches with Troy on Oct. 4^th and 5^th as part of Show 'Em State weekend inside Strahan Arena.

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