Texas State has had a loaded spring schedule, something that’s out of the norm for them. They’ve faced teams with high rankings, such as No. 2 Texas and No. 6 Baylor. The Bobcats were struggling early on, but it was all in preparation for the NCAA tournament in April.
After going on a five-match losing streak, the maroon and gold have picked up two wins — one against Houston, 3-1 (25-22, 25-22, 21-25, 25-17), and more recently, against the University of North Texas in their final home game of the season.
Texas State took a 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-23) sweep over North Texas on Thursday night inside Strahan Arena. It was a tight game during all three sets, but the Bobcats were able to get their revenge after being swept by the Mean Green during their last meeting on Feb. 22.
Head coach Sean Huiet said he could tell early on that it was going to be a tough match, given how North Texas played previously. He’s proud of how his team competed.
“I thought that was a really clean match,” Huiet said. “What North Texas does really well is they make you earn your points, and they really make you work hard. Last time we didn’t respond how we wanted to, and so I thought tonight, early on, they showed us they were going to be in for a battle and I loved how our team responded.”
UNT (11-10, 6-6 Conference USA) opened the first set with intensity, as they were up 5-1. Although, the Bobcats were able to come back and later on, they went on a 6-0 scoring run and took the lead, 12-10. They ended up taking the set, 25-20. Junior middle blocker Jillian Slaughter led Texas State with six kills on 11 errorless swings and had one ace.
“During warm-ups, I was struggling with hitting, which is funny,” Slaughter said. “Then (assistant coach Tori Plugge) was like, ‘Just get your arm up faster!’ And so I stayed out there, did a few more reps and it actually worked. And so then I was just like, ‘Now I know what the problem is.’”
At the beginning of the second set, Texas State (29-8, 15-1 Sun Belt) had gone on a 4-0 run, but the Mean Green came back to tie it, 5-5. The Bobcats took over and were ahead by as many as eight points, and they were in position to win the set. North Texas found some momentum and scored six unanswered points to make it a close score, 24-22. A service error by UNT gave the home team the point they needed to win the set, 25-22.
Texas State scored the first point in the third set, but the Mean Green took over and led by as many as six, going up, 10-4. The hosts offense came back and scored five of the next six points to cut UNT’s lead, 11-9. Up until the end of the match, both teams went back and forth and it ended up being tied at 22-22. The Bobcats went on a 3-1 run to win the set, 25-23, and complete their sweep.
The maroon and gold had three players in double-digits for the kills column. Sophomore outside hitter Caitlan Buettner led Texas State with 12 kills and added two blocks. Slaughter had an impressive night of her own and ended up with 11 kills on 20 errorless swings to record a season-high hitting percentage of .500, matched a career-high of three aces and added two blocks. Junior outside hitter Janell Fitzgerald recorded 10 kills, six digs and three blocks.
It was a team win all around. Junior setter Emily DeWalt added her 21st double-double this season with 39 assists and 16 digs. Junior libero Kayla Granado also had 16 digs and senior middle blocker Tyeranee Scott led all players with five blocks. Sophomore outside hitter Courtney Heiser finished with 11 digs, eight kills and one ace to add to the Bobcats’ win.
“I think we finally figured out that we play the best when we just have fun and don’t stress out and freak out when little things go wrong,” Slaughter said. “So yeah, coming back and especially because it was a home game, winning this, I think it gives us a lot of confidence going into the next game.”
The offense and defense worked hand-in-hand, as they were able to go on multiple big scoring runs throughout the match. This has been difficult against the tougher opponents they’ve been playing during the spring.
“We talk a lot about our offense, we’re very offensive,” Huiet said. “So, for us to have three players with double-digit (kills) in a three-set match is really good ... But our offense, people know our offense, and that’s what is our firepower. I also thought, tonight, our defense really picked up. Kayla had kind of a slow start, but then really dug in and got some balls. I thought we played really good defense as well.”
Texas State is set to face No. 6 Baylor in their final game before the NCAA tournament on Thursday at 6 p.m. at Ferrell Center.
The Bobcats faced the Bears earlier this month and they were defeated, 3-0. Despite the struggles they have faced against not only Baylor, but other high-level opponents, Texas State believes they can come out and get their 30th win. They currently have the most wins in NCAA Division I with 29, but if they played how they did Thursday night against UNT, they’ll have a good chance at 30. They’re going to have to be prepared going into the tournament, and playing Baylor again will help them right before they head to Omaha for the big dance.
“We talked a lot, when we were putting the schedule together, about getting to 30 wins,” Huiet said. “So Baylor is going to be our 30th win, you know, that’s what we’re going for. And so we know what Baylor can do, we’ve already played them. We saw what they did at Houston, and how Houston played them, so we’ll watch that match a little bit, and get some more video ready, but we’re going in there to win this match. And it’s going to be a great match to get us ready for the NCAA tournament.”
