Team Huddle
2
Texas St. TXST 7-13,2-7 Pac-12
3
Winner Gonzaga Gonz 7-13,2-6 Pac-12
Texas St. TXST
7-13,2-7 Pac-12
2
Final
3
Gonzaga Gonz
7-13,2-6 Pac-12
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 5 F
Texas St. TXST 15 25 14 25 14 (2)
Gonzaga Gonz 25 21 25 20 16 (3)

Game Recap: Volleyball |

Texas State Falls to Gonzaga in Five

SPOKANE, Wash. -- Texas State Volleyball pushed Gonzaga to five sets on Thursday and needed extra points to complete the match but fell just short at the Charlotte Y. Martin Centre in Spokane, Washington.

The Bobcats (7-13 overall, 2-7 Pac-12) swung for a respectable .214, but costly hitting errors and eight Bulldog (7-13 overall, 2-6 Pac-12) blocks to Texas State's four proved to be the difference.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Set 1: 15-25
Senior Dylan Gilkey opened the night with a service ace as both sides proceeded to trade blows until Gonzaga began to pull away after 3-3. Both sophomore Peyton McKee and redshirt freshman Ashley Euston tallied three kills each as fifth year Jasmine Purakal recorded a team-high five digs in the frame. 

Set 2: 25-21
The second frame was complete domination for the Bobcats as the Bulldogs never tied the score nor took the lead. All six hitters in the frame recorded at least a kill with McKee leading the way with five. Texas State's performance at the service line also bested Gonzaga's as the 'Cats came away with four service aces to the Bulldogs' one. Leading the charge at the service line was senior Brooke Bentke who had two. Both teams recorded one block each as Euston and Bentke paired together for the one block of the frame. 

Set 3: 14-25
Set three of the night saw Texas State struggle to get their offense going as they managed to tie the score, but Gonzaga was in sole possession of the lead for the entire frame. Both McKee and Bentke led the Bobcats with three kills each while Euston added another two to her total. Junior Anna Blaine led the floor defense with two digs.

Set 4: 25-20
Down 2-1 going into the fourth set, Texas State roared back and improved its hitting from a .114 [11-5-35] hitting percentage in the third frame to a .250 [15-5-40] hitting percentage in the fourth. Bentke began to find her rhythm in the fourth set with five kills while senior Ally Adair was second with three thanks to a .500 [3-0-6] hitting percentage. Two Bobcat blocks thanks to Adair, Euston, Blaine, and freshman Janet Onuorah helped limit the Bulldog offense to a .073 hitting percentage. In addition, Gonzaga was plagued with attacking errors to contribute to their miniscule hitting percentage. Purakal also proved to be something of a spark plug for the Bobcats as the fifth year tallied eight digs—the most in a single set for the libero—while Blaine registered a set-high 13 assists.  

Set 5: 14-16
The final set of the net was one of momentum as both sides tied the score a total of six times with the lead exchanging hands a total of four. Texas State turned in a respectable and match-high .280 [9-2-25] hitting percentage, but the Bulldogs bested the Bobcats' offense with 14 kills on .444 [14-2-27] hitting efficiency. Bentke seemingly turned the momentum in the Bobcats' favor with two back-to-back service aces to tie the score at seven and another two points from a Gonzaga attack error and a kill by Euston, but the Bulldogs were able to tie the match at both 11-11 and 13-13. After tying the set at 13-13, Gonzaga scored three-straight points to close out the match. 

NOTABLES
  • Texas State falls to 7-13 overall and 2-7 in Pac-12 play.
  • Anna Blaine registered her eighth career double-double with 37 assists and 10 digs.
  • Jasmine Purakal posted a season-high 22 digs.
  • Ashley Euston led in blocks with three.
  • Thursday's match was just the second time this season the Bobcats recorded 60 or more kills. The last time Texas State recorded more than 60 kills was against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Sept. 5 with 63.
  • The five-set match against Gonzaga was also the third time this season Texas State has recorded 60 or more digs (61).
  • Brooke Bentke led at the service line with four service aces.
  • Three Bobcats finished in double figure kills with Bentke leading the way with 19. Peyton McKee tallied 16 kills and Ashley Euston finished with 10, marking just the second time this season the middle blocker registered 10 or more kills.
  • Bentke also posted a career high in kills with 19.

UP NEXT
Texas State will stay in Washington to take on Washington State on Saturday, Oct. 24. First serve in Pullman, Wash., is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on the Pac-12 YouTube channel.
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