Texas State volleyball is the 2024 Sun Belt Conference tournament champions after a 3-0 sweep over Arkansas State University Sunday afternoon at Foley Sports Tourism Complex in Foley, Alabama. The Bobcats did not drop a single set during the tournament, sweeping all three of their opponents.
With the championship match win, Texas State claimed its fifth SBC title and punched its ticket to the NCAA tournament as the Sun Belt’s automatic qualifier.
On paper, TXST and ASU were the top two teams in the Sun Belt this year and very similar teams to each other. So it’s no real surprise that the two sides played very competitively from the jump. The first set was mostly back and forth as the two sides reached a 14-14 deadlock. From that point, Texas State went on a quick 4-0 run to go up 18-14 and held the lead for the rest of the set, winning 25-19.
Like set one, set two was back and forth early and often and the two sides again found themselves tied at 14 apiece. This time, however, the two sides continued to trade points all the way to a 22-22 stalemate. Coming out of a timeout, ASU committed two errors to give the Bobcats a 24-22 lead. A couple of points later, freshman outside hitter MJ McCurdy put the set on ice with a kill to give Texas State the 25-23 victory and a two-set lead.
With all the momentum on the Texas State side, ASU came out hot in the third set to try and swing some of it back to its side. The Red Wolves took an early 10-5 lead and looked like they may pull away early. Texas State, however, answered the call with a 5-0 run to tie the set at 10-10. Texas State took its first lead of the set at 12-11 and held on from there. Redshirt sophomore outside hitter Samantha Wunsch put the finishing touch on the match with her 12th kill of the afternoon, clinching the Sun Belt title for the Bobcats.
Three Bobcats made the All-Tournament team for their efforts in Alabama. Wunsch and McCurdy were named members of the team, while fifth-year setter Ryann Torres was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Performer.
Both Wunsch and McCurdy totaled 35 kills over the Bobcats’ three matches. Wunsch added 11 blocks to her efforts while McCurdy tallied six service aces for the Bobcats. Torres finished the tournament with 97 assists, 14 digs and one service ace.
Next up for Texas State is the NCAA tournament. The Bobcats will find out where they are heading during the selection show on Sunday, Dec. 1, at 6 p.m. The show will be broadcast on ESPN.
