The Texas State volleyball team earned their revenge against the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Nov. 10 inside Strahan sweeping them 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-22).
The Bobcats (22-8, 13-2 SBC), last played Louisiana (19-10, 12-3 SBC) Oct. 28 losing 2-3, but head coach Karen Chisum said that the loss might have had something to do with the teams hitting errors.
“Look at our hitters we only had nine hitting errors, last time we played them,” Chisum said. “Let me tell you, we had 28 so there is a big difference between 28 hitting errors and nine.”
With over 3,000 fans in attendance, which is the third-largest crowd in school history, the Bobcats clinched the Sun Belt Conference West Division title and a double bye in the 2017 Sun-Belt Conference championship.
The Bobcats were led by a 48-assist performance by senior Erin Hoppe which marked the highest total in a three-set match by any Sun-Belt player since Oct. 25, 2013.
“(Hoppe) did a great job that was her job tonight throwing the ball around,” Chisum said.
Freshman Tyeranee Scott and junior Madison Daigle both led the Bobcats with 12 kills each and only one error each on a combined 39 swings.
Sophomore Micah Dinwiddie led the Bobcats in digs with 25 followed by junior Amy Plfughaupt with 11 and Mattie Adams with 10.
Chisum said after the game that a high hitting percentage, and a lot of digs can win you a lot of games.
“When you hit a 381 you’re going to win some ball games, we out dug them big time by 34 digs, 74 to 40, but again it was a team effort our kids did a great job,” Chisum said.
The first set was tight between the Bobcats and Louisiana with the biggest lead in the set being only four points.
At one point at the end of the first set, the Bobcats had only a 23-22 lead before going on a 2-0 run to end the set. The second set was less stressful for the Bobcats as they cruised out to 23-17 lead and didn’t look back.
The third set was intense for the Bobcats players and all the fans present in Strahan Coliseum.
The Bobcats took off to a 20-15 lead but the resilient Ragin’ Cajuns did not go out without a fight. The Cajuns got the lead all the way down to only two but after a dagger from Daigle their comeback over. The Bobcats finished the third and final set 25-22.
The Bobcats will have Senior Day Nov. 12 when they play their final game of the regular season against ULM at Strahan Coliseum at noon. Before the game seniors Jaliyah Bolden and Hoppe will both be honored.
The postseason tournament will be Nov. 16-19 at Convocation Center in Jonesboro, Arkansas. Fortunately for the Bobcats they will skip the first two days and begin playing in the semifinals on Nov. 18.