SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State volleyball team earned a hard-fought 3-2 (18-25, 25-19, 26-28, 25-14, 15-13) victory over Appalachian State Sunday afternoon inside Strahan Coliseum.

The Bobcats improved to 10-9 overall and 3-1 in the Sun Belt Conference, while the Mountaineers (2-15, 0-4 SBC) lost their 14th match in a row.

Junior Jaliyah Bolden blasted a career-high 19 kills, which included five in the decisive fifth set. Senior Shelby Vas Matt (12 kills, 12 digs) and junior Erin Hoppe (38 assists, 11 digs) both registered double-doubles, while senior Lauren Kirch added 12 kills and six blocks. Senior Ali Hubicsak contributed 12 digs to the winning cause.

Texas State came out of the gates a little slow, as the visitors were able to power to a 13-7 lead in the first set. The Bobcats battled back to find themselves trailing just 17-15, but the Mountaineers closed out the opener by a 25-18 margin.

The second set was more friendly to the home team, as they turned a 12-12 deadlock into a 20-14 advantage and held on for the 25-19 win.

The third frame closely mirrored the first early on as Appalachian State initially took a 12-6 lead, but the Bobcats came back to tie the match at 16-16 and the two sides battled into extra points. Both teams looked to take control, and it was the visitors who would win 28-26 after Texas State was unable to capitalize on any of its four set points.

The Bobcats were undeterred despite being down 2-1, as they came out on fire in the fourth. TXST jumped on top 8-3 and never looked back, tying the match at 2-2 by winning the set 25-14.

Texas State gained control of the fifth by pulling ahead 9-4, but App State won six of the next seven points to notch proceedings at 10-10. A service error allowed the Bobcats to regain the lead, and two final kills from Bolden coupled with a pair of errors handed the match to the maroon and gold.

Jenna Talbert paced the visitors with 15 kills, while Emma Longley posted a double-double with 11 digs and 10 kills. Ashlyn Brown also had a double-double (14 digs, 13 assists), Amanda Krahl distributed 20 assists and Kennedy Wilson tallied a match-high 19 digs.

Texas State led in kills (58-46), blocks (13-11) and hitting percentage (.158-.109). The Bobcats also improved to 3-3 all-time against ASU.

TXST will remain home for two more matches next weekend. First up will be a 6:30 p.m. contest Oct. 7 against Arkansas State.