Texas State normally only has to wait a week or so after winning the Sun Belt championship to play in the NCAA tournament. This season, the Bobcats are having to wait 20.
The team loaded its schedule with teams that consistently play at a high level to prepare for the big dance. But the players are antsy to get to April already, and the work to build the same momentum heading into nationals has taken a mental toll on them.
The maroon and gold are now on their first three-game losing streak since opening the 2018 season with nine consecutive set losses at the Baylor Invitational. The Bobcats were swept by Kansas on the road Friday, 3-0 (19-25, 15-25, 13-25), fell to No. 2 Texas on the road Monday, 3-0 (19-25, 18-25, 18-25), and were defeated No. 6 Baylor at home on Wednesday, 3-0 (20-25, 18-25, 19-25).
“It's been really hard on our kids. We're really trying to be aware of mental health. We've never had to play this long, we've never had to start in August and go through (April), so it's hard,” head coach Sean Huiet said. “Even for them, it was hard to see, from February to April, how close the NCAA Tournament really is. And so we've kind of gotta get them checked back in and do that.”
Texas State is now 3-4 since winning the Sun Belt tournament back in November. The level of competition the team's played has been much higher than what it’s normally accustomed to in the regular season — its last five opponents have all been Big 12 schools. It’s intentionally supposed to be tough. If the Bobcats want to make a run at a Sweet 16 appearance, these are the type of schools they’ll have to face.
And the team has shown it can hang with the best of the best, scoring at least 18 points in every frame of its matches against Texas and Baylor. Huiet said he feels like they’re on the verge of breaking through. They just need to play at a high level more consistently throughout games.
That’s easier said than done. In the fall, the maroon and gold could lean on its offense to power them through big runs that would extend their lead or help them rally back in a set. Against tougher opponents, those runs become shorter, meaning they have to lean more on their defense. It’s been a major adjustment for them.
Junior middle blocker Jillian Slaughter told Huiet after Wednesday’s loss to the Bears that she feels like Texas State is a whole different team than what it was just four months ago. The Bobcats used to know they were going to win when they stepped on the Strahan Arena floor. Now, that’s not always the case.
“You know, we're asking them to get (COVID-19) tested three times a week,” Huiet said. “They still have school, study hall … on top of another playing schedule and getting back and competing and getting their minds right for that — our practice schedule is different than it normally would be in the spring — it's just a lot.
“And like I said, ‘We're going to take care of you, we're going to check in, we're going to make sure the mental health side is there and you're taken care of. But also, you gotta be able to compete. You've gotta be able to turn some of those outside factors off and compete at a high level when you get here.’ And so, we're learning that as we go.”
All six of the team’s spring matches before Wednesday night were on the road. Texas State has committed an uncharacteristically high number of serving and receiving errors so far, including five of each against Baylor. The team looked so undisciplined against the Jayhawks that Huiet said he had his players running the drills he used for his 12-and-under club teams in their next practice.
Being back home will help. Five of the Bobcats’ final seven matches take place inside Strahan Arena. Inching closer to Selection Sunday, scheduled for April 4, will bring some excitement back for the players, too.
But Texas State has to survive the grind of the rest of the season to reach its goals for the year. The schedule drudges forward on Tuesday, when the team hosts the Longhorns at 6 p.m.
“This is where we want to go and it's never gonna be easy to get there,” Huiet said. “And so, seeing how we get through this will only help us in the future. We want to be a top-25 team, we want to go to the Sweet 16. And so, learning some of this now will be very helpful down the road.”
