Texas State volleyball closed out the 2024 regular season with a series sweep against James Madison University this weekend at Strahan Arena.
Match One
Redshirt sophomore outside hitter Samantha Wunsch‘s 22 kills lifted the Bobcats to a 3-1 victory over James Madison Thursday evening. This win improves the Bobcats’ win streak to seven games.
“We want to win every match,” Texas State Head Coach Sean Huiet said. “We just want to keep winning.”
Freshman outside hitter M.J. McCurdy had the Dukes on a leash in set one with five kills and covered some ground as she finished the night with nine digs. Texas State went on to take set one 25-18.
Set three took much more work than the rest, consisting of 16 ties and eight lead changes. The Bobcats would eventually break away from the back-and-forth to go ahead 21-15. Trailing for most of the set, the Dukes slowly chipped at the lead that was Texas State’s.
The run that James Madison was hoping for came as they went on a four-point run that consisted of three Bobcat errors. Both teams traded points dramatically after tying at 23, but the swing of junior middle blocker Bailey Hanner put the Dukes away for a 29-27 victory in set three.
To seal the victory in the fourth set, the Bobcats had a hitting percentage of .378, twice as much as James Madison. Still, the Dukes proved difficult to put away all night, forcing 11 tie scores in set four, but Wunsch and Hanner combined for 11 kills in the final set to give Texas State a 25-19 win.
James Madison kept each set close all night and kept the Bobcats from gaining enough momentum to run away with the game. Set two was the best of the night for the Dukes. It was the only set where they hit over .200 as a team. James Madison fed off Bobcat mishits and attack errors to take their lone set victory 25-21.
“It wasn’t our cleanest performance, but at this point in the season, it’s about figuring out a way to win,” Huiet said.
Match Two
The Bobcats honored their seniors in the last game of the regular season with a sweep over James Madison Friday.
Wunsch and McCurdy dominated the stat sheet with 27 kills combined.
The Bobcats and the Dukes battled back and forth in the first set. A five-point run from the Bobcats allowed them to win 25-15.
The Bobcats took an early lead in set two, starting with a 6-0 run. They kept the lead and won the set 25-11.
“I thought we played really good in the first set,” Huiet said. “I think we really set the tone in the second set by being able to come out on that early lead right away.”
The Bobcats trailed for over half of the third set, with the Dukes grabbing an early 6-1 lead. Texas State battled back and went on a 10-1 run, coming out on top with a 25-18 win to close out senior night.
“We came to the middle, and we were like, everyone take a breath,” McCurdy said. “We are good volleyball players, they are good volleyball players, they’re going to have good moments, so just moving on from it and getting on a run is important.”
The Bobcats will travel to Alabama for a rematch with James Madison in the Sun Belt Conference tournament.
The match between Texas State and James Madison is scheduled for 11 a.m. Friday, Nov. 22, at the Foley Event Center in Foley, Alabama. The match will be available to stream on ESPN+.
