Bobcats sweep doubleheader against South Alabama in statement win

In one of the biggest wins of the season, Texas State defeated the South Alabama Jaguars, 3-1 (2225, 25-14, 25-22, 25-20) to sweep the doubleheader series.

Handing a South Alabama team, that was previously undefeated in conference play before the doubleheader, two losses, Head Coach Sean Huiet was all smiles for his team.

“I’m really proud of this team,” Huiet said. “Last night we really focused on our side of the net. Doing some things to change things up. I thought our block is really good right now which helps everything. So I’m really proud.”

In a series featuring two teams known for their offenses, it was the defense that came through for the Bobcats.

Texas State came away with 13 blocks in Game 1 before gaining 17 blocks in Game 2.

The Bobcats also saw both Alyssa Ortega and K.J. Johnson come away with over 20 digs.

With the added emphasis of improving the defense play during the offseason, the Bobcats are seeing results.

“Texas State has been known for offense,” Huiet said. “So when we can put pressure on teams with our defense, our blocking and our digging, it helps. … We are where we want to be, playing our best towards the end.”

While the excellent defensive play adds an advantage on the scoreboard, it also adds a psychological advantage as well.

“We rally around our defense whenever the front row gets a stuff block,” Johnson said. “It just amps everything up and brings so much momentum. Then on the defensive end as well just stopping the big hitters. It makes the game more frustrating for the other teams and it helps us to go with the flow on the other side.”

Knowing the firepower the Jaguar offense brings, the need for great defensive play was critical.

“South [Alabama] is a really good offensive team,” Wunsch said. “So playing good defense, digging their balls, getting 17 blocks is a really good way to shut them down and frustrate them. Just being able to outwork them.”

Heading into Saturday’s matchup with a emphatic 3-0 sweep of the Jaguars the previous night, Huiet credited the team for sticking to the game plan while also being locked in.”

“What we did yesterday worked so we are going to stay with that,” Huiet said. “If they started to do something different, we had a plan ready to go. Kudos to the team coming in, locked in and ready to go.”

As expected, South Alabama responded but were held back by Texas State in a heavily competitive first set.

Both teams traded the lead back and forth as no one held a lead larger than three points.

Despite Texas State leading 21-19, South Alabama went on a 6-1 run to take the first set at 25-22.

Though the Bobcats were disappointed with dropping the first set, Texas State knew they had to move on.

“We knew they were going to come back even harder at us,” Johnson said. “We had to keep the same mindset of it’s just one set. We had to let it go and come back harder in the next three sets.”

The Bobcats responded in dominant fashion as Texas State rolled in the second set 25-14 to tie the match at 1-1.

The performance turned out to be a massive turning point for the Bobcats.

“I thought we got the momentum back,” Huiet said. “We know they are a really good team and have really good players that can turn it on at any time. … So it was about keeping focus on what we were doing.”

Texas State took the critical third set winning 25-22 before winning the final and decisive fourth set, 2520, as the Bobcats won 3-1.

The Bobcats saw three players reach double digits in kills with Johnson and sophomore Maggie Walsh leading the way with 12 kills each followed by Wunsch with 10 kills.

Ryann Torres set up the offense for the Bobcats leading the team in assists with 38 while also gaining 11 digs.

Texas State goes back on the road as the Bobcats take on conference rival Arkansas State.

cmcwilliams@ sanmarcosrecord.om Twitter: @ColtonBMc