SAN MARCOS, Texas – Texas State (22-8, 14-2 Sun Belt Conference) turned in its 13th sweep of the season, defeating UTA (16-12, 8-8 Sun Belt) 25-19, 25-14, 25-11 on senior night Friday at Strahan Arena in front of 2,419 fans (No. 5 all-time).
With the win, the Bobcats secired the outright Sun Belt title for the second consecutive year.
"This was the best we have played in a while," said head coach Karen Chisum. "Overall, to repeat as regular-season champions absolutely pleases me. I could say that it is my job, but these girls are believers and worked hard to earn this championship. I am extremely proud of them. This was the largest crowd we had this year and they really brought some energy. I hope they come back for the conference tournament."
Seniors Micah Dinwiddie, Rylie Fuentes, Cheyenne Huskey and Konner Wood were honored before the first serve and started tonight's match. Dinwiddie and Wood have been with the Marron and Gold all four years and made history by logging 95 victories in their tenure, the most of any four-year student-athlete in the program's history.
"This senior class is fun to be around, and they are four nice young ladies. They work hard, they are talented and most importantly, really good people," said coach Chisum.
The Cats outhit the Lady Mavs .384-.118 and dominated their opponents in kills (48-29), assists (47-26) and digs (50-33). Texas State also held a slight 3-1 advantage in aces and a 6-2 margin in blocks. There was one lead change in the entire match.
Senior outside hitter Huskey led all players with 19 kills behind a .429 hitting percentage. Huskey also finished with match-high two aces and added seven digs and one block in the win. Junior middle blocker Tyeranee Scott matched a career-high .900 attacking percentage after landing nine kills on 10 errorless swings. Sophomore setter Emily DeWalt dished out 38 assists and finished with five digs, four kills, and two blocks including one solo block. Freshman middle Tessa Marshall landed seven kills and paced the team with three blocks. Senior defensive specialist Dinwiddie logged a team-high 11 digs followed by fellow classmate and counterpart Wood who dug out a season-high nine balls.
Senior outside hitter Kylie Jedlicka led the Lady Mavs with 10 kills and had seven digs. Setters sophomore Kylee Kapp and freshman Jessica Stancliff logged 11 and 10 assists, respectively, and junior libero Madelyn St. Germain led all players with 17 digs and had UTA's only ace in the match.