Texas State (13-11, 8-5 SBC) rolled into Strahan Arena on Friday evening on a four-game winning streak and extended it to five with an exclamation point as they defeated the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (16-9, 8-5 SBC) in straight sets, 25-20. 25-16, 25-9.
Junior opposite hitter Samantha Wunsch notched 3 service aces, junior libero Alyssa Clark put up more digs than any two Chanticleers and the seniors of the squad commended senior weekend in San Marcos with an emphatic win.
“I’m really proud of this group,” head coach Sean Huiet said. “We wanted to come out and fire first, that’s something we wanted to do early and once we settled in after the first set, we showed what we are capable of.”
While the first set saw a back-and-forth on both volleys and the scoreboard, it took little time for Texas State to find its form. Coastal was able to isolate open patches and holes in the Bobcats’ floor, forcing bad touches. It also took Texas State’s serving and blocking a while to find its groove, leading to a stretch of two and three-point leads for the Chanticleers.
The set went into the media timeout and when they returned, Wunsch and sophomore outside hitter Maggie Walsh went to work. Under Wunsch’s service, the Bobcats rattled off five unanswered points to take a commanding 18-15 lead before the Chanticleers took a timeout.
Coastal Carolina never enjoyed a lead the rest of the night. Much of the frustration faced by the visitors was the relentless blocking prowess around the net, resulting in bad touches and forced errors, which led to points quickly and often.
“Our blocks set the tone,” senior middle blocker Bailey Hanner said. “We go into our scouting report and we aren’t sure if we are gonna have to adjust our defense [to Coastal Carolina], but our blocking really set the tone tonight.”
Along with blocking shots, six service aces by three different Bobcats and a masterclass in digs by Clark, Texas State seized the tempo and pacing of the game and never let go.
Sets two and three saw long scoring droughts for Coastal and the momentum fed into the positive vibes for all in attendance. Texas State easily dominated the final two sets 25-16 and 25-8, respectively.
The beginning of Senior weekend was capped off with a special moment. Senior middle blocker Jade Defraeye has been away from her home in France, as she chases her dreams, first here at Texas State and on to play professionally. As a moment of sweet surprise, Texas State arranged to have Defraeye’s mom and dad in San Marcos for this special occasion.
“I didn’t expect my parents to come, so when I saw them last night, I was really excited for this weekend,” Defraeye said. “It was a big motivation for me because they didn’t come throughout my 4 years at Texas State, so I was honored to play tonight and excited to play tomorrow too.”
Texas State Volleyball wraps up senior weekend against Coastal Carolina at 12 p.m. on November 8 inside Strahan Arena, streaming on ESPN+.
TEXAS STATE STAT LEADERS· Kills – Samantha Wunsch (10)· Assists – Dylan Gilkey (15)· Blocks – Jade Defraeye (9.0)· Digs – Alyssa Clark (14)SCORES BY SET· 1st | Texas State 25, Coastal Carolina 20· 2nd | Texas State 25, Coastal Carolina 16· 3rd | Texas State 25, Coastal Carolina 8
