Texas State Volleyball dropped its first match of the year, 1-3, against the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks during the UTSA Invitational on Saturday, Aug. 30, in San Antonio, Texas.
The result marks the Bobcats’ first loss in 10 meetings against the Lumberjacks, as SFA last took victory over Texas State in 2007.
Texas State opened up the match on a strong note by taking the first set 25-21 with a solid offensive effort that tallied 14 kills against the Lumberjacks.
The narrative took a turn in set two as SFA tied the day up by winning 25-16 as the Bobcats proved unable to overcome the point deficit as they recorded seven attacking errors and two service errors throughout the set.
In set three, the Bobcats called an early timeout in an attempt to regroup after dropping the first five points straight.
Texas State fell short offensively in comparison to their opponent with a .148 hitting percentage and .333 kill percentage versus the Lumberjacks at .312 and .500, supporting a 25-17 victory to end the third set.
The Lumberjacks efficiently closed out the match in set four by defeating the Bobcats 25-10, accumulating 12 kills and six aces in the final set.
Today’s match displayed an offensive gap between the teams, with Stephen F. Austin recording a historic 14 aces on the day and 52 kills, while Texas State ended with a much lower count of 4 aces and 43 kills. SFA largely outperformed on scoring percentage at 51.6% versus Texas State’s 35.6%.
As the 2024 offensive kill leader, Samantha Wunsch continued a strong offensive effort into the new season by leading the team with 12 kills on the day and Jade Defraeye followed close behind with seven.
Texas State will play its second and final match of the weekend against I-35 rival, the University of Texas at San Antonio, at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 30, on the Roadrunners’ home court.
