Texas State volleyball (1-1) saw its first defeat of the young 2023 season after being swept 3-0 by the University of Tennessee (1-0) on Friday, Aug. 25 at the Tennessee Classic.
After sweeping Marist College in its first game, the Bobcats had a quick turnaround facing Tennessee just hours later.
Graduate right side Morgahn Fingall had a dominating performance for the Lady Vols, finishing with 13 kills on 31 total attempts.
Fingall was aggressive all match long and caused many issues for the Bobcats who struggled to find an offensive rhythm all series.
The opening set in this best-of-five series saw competitive play from both sides, with six ties and two lead changes.
The Bobcats found themselves in a hole early after many untimely errors allowing Tennessee to win the set 25-19.
Texas State managed to recover defensively in the second set, after recording zero blocks in the opening set.
Despite a better defensive performance, the Bobcats were unable to contain the Lady Vols as they finished with a game-high 18 kills in the second set alone.
After taking the second set 25-18, Tennessee made sure it wasn’t going to allow Texas State back into the series by taking complete control of the elimination set.
Tennessee dominated the final moments of the series, winning set three 25-15 to break out the brooms against Texas State.
The Bobcats will look to recover from this early loss of the season, as they prepare to play their final match of the Tennessee Classic against UT Martin.
The match between Texas State and UT Martin is scheduled for 9 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 26 at Thompson Boling Center Arena at Food City Center in Knoxville, TN.
