by JASON GORDON
The Texas State volleyball’s largest home crowd of the season was on hand to witness a battle Saturday afternoon in Strahan Coliseum as the Bobcats fought past I-35 rival UTSA in five sets.
After dropping the opening set, the Bobcats rallied to win their third five-set match of the season (19-25, 25-20, 27-29, 27-25, 15-13) and even up the season series with the Roadrunners in front of more than 800 fans.
“Our team had an opportunity to fold,” Texas State head coach Karen Chisum said. “But we came back strong several times and that’s something you have to be very proud of.”
Saturday’s match did not lack competitiveness, as both teams remained within a few points of one another for the majority of the match, while sets three, four and five all finished with just a two-point differential. In total, there were 26 tie scores and 14 lead changes throughout the match.
After the two teams split the first two sets, the Bobcats put themselves in good position to win the third after taking an 18-15 lead midway through the period. However, UTSA would come back and fight off three set points before taking the set, 29-27.
In the fourth set, Texas State dug itself a big hole early, as UTSA raced out to a 6-0 lead; however, the Bobcats defense stepped it up and brought the team back, as consecutive block assists from Alexandra Simms and Ashlee Hilbun gave Texas State a 16-15 lead. The lead changed hands two more times before the duo of Hilbun and Simms again came through with a stuff block on set point to force a fifth set.
Texas State led 6-2 early in the fifth set on a kill from Amari Deardorff, but the Roadrunners would chip away until eventually tying the score at 13-13 in the race to 15. Setter Caleigh McCorquodale again found Deardorff for the put-away to give the Bobcats match point, and Simms delivered as she tallied her second ace of the match, to give the team the win.
With the win, Texas State improved to 11-11 overall and 6-5 in the WAC. Meanwhile, UTSA dropped to 13-8 overall, while also having its conference record move to 6-5.
Several Bobcats stood out in Saturday’s match, including sophomore setter Caylin Mahoney, who led the team with 25 assists. However, it was her work at the net that truly impressed throughout the match, as she totaled 11 kills on 27 attempts for a .370 hitting percentage – all personal bests since joining Texas State. Mahoney also finished four digs shy of a triple-double, finishing the match with six saves.
Hilbun was solid overall for Texas State, finishing with 11 kills, 11 digs and six blocks for her second double-double of the 2012 campaign.
Offensively, Simms and Deardorff both tallied 16 kills to pace the Bobcat attack that finished the match with 68 kills. Molly Ahrens added nine put-aways with a team-best .389 hitting percentage.
Defensively, Patti Bradshaw recorded a career-high 20 digs from her defensively specialist position, and Laura Whalen added 16 saves. Whalen also set a career high with 11 assists.
Texas State continues its stretch of games at Strahan Coliseum on Thursday when the team welcomes Seattle U to San Marcos for a 6:30 p.m. match.
