Bobcats Dominate South Alabama in Sweep
SAN MARCOS, Texas – In Texas State’s second home Sun Belt Conference match of the season, the Bobcats put on a dominating performance to sweep the Jaguars of South Alabama, 25-12, 27-25, 25-15, to improve to 4-0 in conference play and 9-7 overall.
On her 20th birthday, Kelsey Weynand led Texas State in kills with 11 on the night. Sophomores Shelby Vas Matt and Keeley Davis provided plenty of support with 10 kills each, both finishing the match hitting .400. Jordan Kohl added eight while Lauren Kirch and Amanda Watkins combined for 11 kills and just one error. Watkins went without an error for a .429 hitting percentage while Kohl hit .417.
The Bobcats were so efficient Thursday night that they hit .333 as a team while holding South Alabama to just .120. The Texas State defense forced South Alabama to hit a meager .024 with just six kills in the final set and only .095 in the first.
Defensively, Texas State tallied five blocks with three block assists each from Kirch and Kohl. Sierra Smith had23 digs in the short three-set match, doing most of the heavy lifting on the back line. Ali Gonzales added 13 digs and doubled up with a match-high 26 assists. Jordan Moore added 18 assists.
The Bobcats started the match on fire, hitting .591 with just one error in the first frame. Even more impressive than the team’s efficient hitting in the opening set was its serving. Kirch served up three aces while Smith and Moore added two more each for seven aces in the first set. Before the night was over, Texas State tallied nine aces to completely take the Jaguars out of their game plan.
Weynand hit .375 in the opening set with four kills while Kirch and Vas Matt added three each to propel Texas State to a 25-12 victory.
South Alabama tried to bounce back after that and pushed the Bobcats to extra points in the second set, but Texas State proved to be too tough. The Jaguars built a 17-14 lead, but behind two USA errors and a Weynand ace, the Bobcats tied it, 17-17. From there, both teams battled back and forth, but, with the game tied 25-25, Weynand struck a kill and South Alabama followed with an error to give Texas State the 27-25 victory.
The third set looked to be even more impressive for Texas State than the first. The Bobcats stormed out to a 7-2 lead and built that up to a 22-11 advantage. At that point, Texas State used kills from Davis and Kohl with a South Alabama error to finish off the Jaguars.
Texas State takes to the road for the team’s next match, a conference showdown at Troy at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Texas State Records Nine Aces as Jaguars Fall 3-0
AN MARCOS, Texas – Texas State recorded nine service aces Thursday night and defeated the University of South Alabama volleyball team 3-0 (12-25, 25-27, 15-25) at Strahan Coliseum.
The Jags (7-6, 2-1 SBC) will return home this weekend and host Arkansas State at 6 p.m. on Saturday night at Jag Gym. Live stats and web streaming for the match will be available at www.USAJaguars.com and can be accessed on the Jaguar volleyball schedule page.
Jessica Lewis was the lone Jag to end the night in double digits as the Huntsville, Ala., native posted 10 kills. Nikki Gittens had seven kills of her own and recorded a .353 hitting percentage. Mechell Daniel – who ranks second on the club in kills – was held to a season-low three kills by the Bobcats in the loss.
Texas State, which improved to 9-7 on the year and moved to 4-0 in the Sun Belt with the win, held a 52-27 advantage in kills and outhit the Jaguars .333 to .120. Kelsey Weynand led all players with 11 kills, while Keeley Davis and Shelby Vas Matt each had 10 kills apiece and hit .400.
Lauren Kirch led the Bobcats with three aces and Sierra Smith and Jordan More each had two aces of their own.
SET ONE: TEXAS STATE 25, SOUTH ALABAMA 12
Led by the play of Kirch early on in the first set, the Bobcats jumped out to an early 8-3 advantage on the Jags to begin the match. Kirch had a kill, a block assist and a pair of aces during the opening run for Texas State.
South Alabama trimmed the deficit to two (8-6) following a kill from Gittens, but TSU came right back and regained control as the Bobcats reeled off six of the next eight points to extend their lead out to 14-8. Jordan Kohl began the run with her second kill of the match and Smith followed with Texas State's third and four aces of the set. The Bobcats would record seven service aces in the first set. Kirch later capped off the run and gave TSU the six-point lead with another kill.
Texas State controlled from there and took the early lead in the match with a 25-12 first-set win.
Along with the strong first-set serving, the Bobcats also came out on fire as they recorded 14 kills on 22 attempts and committed just one error for a .591 hitting percentage. USA posted a .095 attack percentage in the frame.
SET TWO: TEXAS STATE 27, SOUTH ALABAMA 25
Tied 6-6 in the second set, South Alabama rattled off three-straight points to take the lead. After a Bobcat attack error, Lewis slammed home a pair of kills to put USA up 9-6.
The Jaguars later led 14-11 following a kill by Mallory Moore and another TSU attack error, but the Bobcats began to chip away at the South Alabama lead and tied the set back up at 17-17 on an ace from Weynand and a Jag miscue.
The two clubs traded the next several points, but late in the set, USA looked as if it were going to even up the match as Lewis put the Jags at set-point with her sixth kill of the frame, but the Jags weren't able to get the needed point. South Alabama committed an attack and Amanda Watkins then posted back-to-back kills to give Texas State a one-point lead. Lewis tied the set back up on the next point with another kill.
The Bobcats though picked up the final two points of the frame on a kill by Weynand and block assists by Amanda Watkins and Jordan Kohl.
SET THREE: TEXAS STATE 25, SOUTH ALABAMA 15
Leading two sets to none, Texas State maintained the momentum and broke an early 2-2 tie with a run of five-straight points. Kirch began the scoring run with a kill and the Bobcats took a five-point lead following a Jaguar attack error.
USA narrowed the deficit to 10-6, but Texas State put the match away with a 7-2 scoring spurt over the nine points to break the set open. Kohl later sealed the third set win and the match for the Bobcats with her eighth kill of the night for the 25-15 win.
NOTES: Texas State improves to 2-1 in the all-time series. USA is 0-2 in the series in matches played in San Marcos. This was the first match in the series that didn't go five sets. The 10-kill match versus Texas State was Jessica Lewis' eighth of the season. The three kills by Mechell Daniel against the Bobcats were a season- and career-low for the Jaguar outside hitter. Her previous mark had been four against Lipscomb last season.