Texas State volleyball (27-4 overall, 15-1 Sun Belt) lost its match against the University of Kansas Jayhawks (6-10 overall, 5-10 Big 12) in a 3-0 sweep (25-19, 25-15, 25-13) on March 5.
After their reverse sweep victory against Kansas State University the day before, the Bobcats’ energy in this contest seemed to wane as it went on.
In the first set, Texas State got off to a quick 2-0 lead via a kill from junior middle blocker Jillian Slaughter, along with an ace by sophomore outside hitter Caitlan Buettner. The Jayhawks countered with five unanswered points to grab the lead 5-2. Kansas freshman middle blocker Caroline Campell had two kills during the run.
The Bobcats remained behind by as many as four points, but a 3-0 run, featuring kills by junior outside hitter Janell Fitzgerald and Slaughter, shortened the gap to 11-10. However, the Jayhawks took back control later in the set as they went on 6-2 to push their lead to 20-15.
Both teams traded blows, but an attack error by Texas State sophomore hitter Lauren Teske and a kill by the Jayhawks gave Kansas the set 25-19.
Going into the second set, neither team gained a significant advantage as the set was tied at 9-9. That changed as the Jayhawks went on an 8-1 run to take a 17-10 lead, the final six of which came purely from attack errors by the Bobcats.
A kill from Fitzgerald, two blocks and a Kansas attacking error cut the deficit to 17-14. However, that merely stalled the Jayhawks who scored eight of the final nine points of the period to capture the second set 25-15 and a 2-0 lead in the match.
The third set started similarly to the others as both teams continued to go back and forth, with Kansas holding a slim 10-9 lead. Then, just like the previous sets, the Jayhawks went on a run. This time they went on a 9-2 run to take the lead at 19-11.
Kills by Fitzgerald and senior middle blocker Tyeranee Scott brought the game slightly closer at 20-13, but it did not help much as Kansas scored the final five points to win the set 25-13 and sweep the Bobcats 3-0.
The Jayhawks dominated in every major category as they finished with 40 kills (.418), with six aces and seven blocks versus the Bobcats’ 30 kills (.086), with one ace and two blocks.
Fitzgerald led Texas State with 11 kills (.143), followed by Scott with eight (.333). Slaughter (.375) and Buettner (.062) each had five kills. Buettner had the Bobcats’ lone ace of the night. Junior setter Emily DeWalt led the Maroon and Gold with 26 assists.
Defensively, junior libero Kayla Granado led with seven digs, followed by DeWalt and senior setter Brooke Johnson who each had five. Scott and DeWalt each had two block assists.
The Bobcats will look ahead to their third straight match against a Big 12 opponent as they play the University of Texas at Austin at 6 p.m., on March 8, at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin. The match will be broadcast on the Longhorn Network.
