The Texas State volleyball team sent a message of dominance to the Sun Belt Conference with two wins over the weekend, extending the team’s win streak to eight with a 4-0 record in conference play.
The Bobcat offense tallied 121 kills through the weekend, with 29 of those coming from freshman outside hitter Janell Fitzgerald, who focused on her team and getting the job done when the time came.
“I just thought it was time to work, time to take everything that we’ve done in practice and try to put it to use,” Fitzgerald said. “We just had to take all of the passion that was in that game and put it through the ball.”
The team showed unparalleled chemistry on both nights as they triumphed over Little Rock 3-1 (25-22, 25,15, 28-30, 25-18) on Sept. 28 and Arkansas State 3-0 (25-22, 25-21, 26-24) on Sept. 29.
Coach Karen Chisum said she believes in her team’s ability to win and looks forward to facing the next opponent, UT Arlington, at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 2 at Strahan Coliseum.
“There’s a target on our back, I promise you, everybody is (going to) give us their best shot,” Chisum said. “We need to take a look at what UTA does. I don’t think there’s any match in the Sun Belt Conference that we can’t take on.”
The weekend’s notable players include junior outside hitter Cheyenne Huskey with 20 kills, senior middle blocker Madison Daigle with19 kills, freshman setter Emily Dewalt with 98 assists, and junior defensive specialist Micah Dinwiddie with 32 digs.
The Bobcats lead the West Division at 13-5 overall and 4-0 in SBC play. DeWalt said though the team has been playing well, they’re always looking to improve their weak spots.
“I think we need to get better on the out-of-system ball, so we’ll probably do a lot of that,” DeWalt said. “Picking up tips too, that’s a big one on our list of things to work on.”
The true freshman said the team trusts one another and the teammates hype each other up. DeWalt said Chisum’s advice of “nothing knocks us off our rockers” has helped her remain confident and poised through each match.