Texas State volleyball (9-4, 2-0 Sun Belt Conference) opened conference play with a two-game sweep over the University of Louisiana-Monroe (4-12, 0-2 Sun Belt Conference) Thursday and Friday at Strahan Arena.
The Bobcats took a 3-1 victory in back-to-back matchups, playing with their leading attacker, graduate outside hitter K.J. Johnson, out of the lineup for both games.
Sophomore outside hitter Maggie Walsh stepped up big in Johnsons’ absence, as Walsh led the team in kills and digs.
After the first meeting between both teams, Texas State head coach Sean Huiet said, he looks for his team to maintain this level of competition no matter who is playing on the court.
“It’s good to go through adversity; it’s good to get a lot of kids some playing time early on because that’s only going to help us down the road,” Huiet said. “Our level and where we are at, we need to maintain that no matter who is on the court.”
The Warhawks losing streak now extends to four on the season and 24 consecutive against the Bobcats.
ULM sophomore outside hitter Brynn Botkin posted double digits in kills in both matches but couldn’t get past the Texas State defense, which had nine blocks in the first match and 11 in the second.
Huiet said he wants to start the season strong and credits how his team stepped up through the adversity of playing without Johnson.
“I think that helped us tonight because we knew that we had K.J. out, so we knew we had some pieces that could step up,” Huiet said.
Redshirt freshman outside hitter Samantha Wunsch, tallying double-digit kills in both games along with six blocks during Friday’s win, said this team is willing to rely on each other regardless of the opponent or situation.
“We’ve definitely had some injuries this year, there’s no question,” Wunsch said. “Everybody is ready to have each other’s backs no matter who’s on the court playing together.”
Texas State starts conference play at 2-0 and now looks ahead to a two-game showdown on the road against James Madison University [9-4, 2-0 Sun Belt Conference].
The first match between Texas State and James Madison is scheduled for 5 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 28, at the Convocation Center in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The game will be available to stream on ESPN+.
