Texas State followed its second consecutive conference sweep of the season Friday with 3-1 win on Saturday, knocking off Southern Miss again inside Strahan Arena (25-18, 18-25, 25-16, 25-16).
The two conference wins puts Texas State tied for first place in the Sun Belt Conference West Division along with South Alabama, the defending champions, at 7-1.
Following their win on Friday, Head Volleyball Coach Sean Huiet was satisfied with his team’s play on Saturday knowing that Southern Miss was going to switch up their strategy.
“I was really proud of our resiliency today,” Huiet said “We know Southern Miss is a really good team and we know Mia (Wesley) is one of the best offensive players in the country. We knew they were going to come back (from last night’s match) with something different.”
A pivotal moment in Saturday’s game came when the Golden Eagles knocked off the Bobcats in the second set at 25-18.
With the teams tied at 1-1, it was important for Texas State to take the third set and swing the momentum back in their favor.
The Bobcats rallied and won the third set at 25-16 before winning the fourth set also at 25-16.
It was a massive moment taking the tiebreaking set for the Bobcats which showed the tenacity of the team.
“We know we aren’t going to sweep everyone,” Huiet said “But the way our team came back and battled after that second set was nice to see. How we regrouped (after that second set), it just showed the confidence of the team and showed the maturity of this team. I thought we did a really great job during those third and fourth sets. It was really nice to see everyone bounce back during those sets and put the stamp on the match.”
For libero Jacqueline Lee, the team’s defensive prowess was the key to both wins, especially the Bobcats ability to defend the net.
“I feel like we were doing a really good job of setting up our blocks,” Lee said. “Our blocks were getting a lot of touches. Yesterday, they were phenomenal and today, they were great as well. We were just trying to be gritting on defense, honestly. It was something we were trying to work on a lot in practice this week. We didn’t want the ball to hit the floor today.”
For outside hitter Lauren Teske, defending Southern Miss outsider hitter Mia Wesley was the key to not only Saturday’s win but Friday’s win as well.
“I just think we knew our serving game was off, and so we were going to have to defend really well,” Teske said, “which is a big thing when another team has a really good offensive player. We were going to have to know where (Mia Wesley) was on the court at all times. She was really active on the backrow, too, so we just had to know where she was at all times and just get really gritty with defense. And I thought we did that tonight.”
Up next for Texas State is a massive showdown with the South Alabama Jaguars for control on the Sun Belt West Division lead.
Tip off starts at 6 p.m. both Friday and Saturday at Jaguar Gym in Mobile, Ala.
