Texas State volleyball (25-2) began the spring season with a tightly contested 3-1 (25-23, 25-21, 24-26, 25-22) road win against rival the University of Texas at San Antonio (2-4) on Feb. 10.
“UTSA made us work tonight,” says Sean Hueit, Texas State Head Coach. “I was glad to see us fight back and get the win. It was not as clean as we would have liked, but it is early in our spring season. We will watch film and get back to work to keep getting better.”
In the first set, UTSA got out to an early 4-1 lead, but the Bobcats were able to claw their way back and tie the score at 5-5. The next few possessions were back and forth as neither team was able to gain an advantage. Finally, after six tie scores, the Roadrunners scored four-straight points to take a 13-10 lead.
UTSA managed to maintain its lead until Texas State went on a 5-1 run to take the lead at 19-18. The Roadrunners once again took the lead at 20-19 at which point the Bobcats closed out the first set with a 6-3 run to win the opening set 25-23.
The second set began much like the first as UTSA jumped out ahead 3-0 before Texas State fought back to tie the set at 5-5. After four tie scores, the Bobcats took the lead 10-9 and never relinquished it for the rest of the set.
Texas State extended its lead to 12-9, giving the Bobcats some much-needed cushion for the rest of the set. Twice the Roadrunners came within one point of Texas State but were not able to tie the score or take the lead. Ahead 15-14, the Bobcats went on a 3-0 run, and UTSA was never able to get within three points. After back-to-back errors by the Roadrunners, Texas State won 25-21 and took a 2-0 advantage in the match.
Desperate to avoid a sweep, UTSA went on a 5-1 run to start the third set, but the Bobcats responded with their own 5-1 run to tie the set at 6-6. After seven tie scores and four lead changes, Texas State found itself up 20-18 and seemed to be on the way to a sweep. UTSA then proceeded to go on a 5-1 run and take the lead 23-21.
Texas State tied the set up at 23-23 and then 24-24 to send the set to extra points. A kill by the Roadrunners followed by an ace won the set 26-24 and prevented the sweep by the Bobcats.
The fourth and final set was an affair in which both teams combined for 19 errors. UTSA began strong, securing a 9-4 lead. The Roadrunners maintained at least a three-point lead for about half of the set. Eventually, Texas State was able to take the lead 21-20 after an 11-5 run.
UTSA tied the score at 21-21, but the Bobcats finished strong with a 4-1 run to take the set 25-22 and win the match 3-1.
Texas State’s big three of junior setter Emily DeWalt, senior middle blocker Tyeranee Scott and junior outside hitter Janell Fitzgerald showed out in their first match in almost three months. DeWalt ended with a game-high 45 assists to go with eight digs and two block assists. Scott finished with 12 kills on .357 hitting and two block assists. Fitzgerald racked up a game-high 14 kills off of .333 hitting percentage.
For UTSA, sophomore outside hitter Kirby Smith had a double-double with 12 digs while matching Fitzgerald’s 14 kills. Smith also registered three service aces for a game-high 17 points. Following Smith was sophomore outside hitter Hunter Coppola with 11 kills and two block assists. Junior middle blocker Alison Jennings scored 10 kills and was one of three Roadrunners with three total blocks.
Next time out the Bobcats will face the University of North Texas at 6 p.m. on Feb 18 in Denton.