Texas State wins first leg of homestand, taking out Trojans 3-1
Homecoming weekend started with a 3-1 (25-19, 25-13, 24-26, 25-21) victory on the court for the Bobcats over Little Rock.
Through two sets, the Bobcats were well in control. Other than a 1-0 Little Rock start on the first point of the match, the maroon and gold did not allow a Trojan lead in the first two frames. Their persistence when the offense had some struggles kept the ball alive, and often it eventually led to a Trojan error. Little Rock finished with 37 kills and 37 attack errors for a .000 hitting percentage.
A big reason why Texas State prevented the ball from hitting the floor was coverage from senior setter Emily DeWalt. On a pivotal sequence in the fourth set, she skied with graduate transfer middle blocker Jada Gardner to impede a Trojan attack, and got a touch on the ball. In mid-air, on the way down, she tracked the ball over her shoulder and, immediately after contacting the floor, darted to the location the dug ball would land. Even at whiplash speed, she delivered a feather-light set to senior outside hitter Janell Fitzgerald, who buried a loud kill. DeWalt finished the game with four kills, 41 assists and 14 digs. Head coach Sean Huiet verbalized the impact she has on the team.
“Emily DeWalt is a special player,” Huiet said. “She does a lot of things that we don’t train, she just does them naturally. She’s really one of the best setters we’ve had that can put an out-of-system ball back in system and make her hitters feel comfortable with that. She just does a lot of that naturally.”
The Bobcat defense carried the load early in the second set. The offense clicked in the final stretch of the second set when Texas State used placement swings along the back line. Pressure on Trojan passers prevented many of the digs from reaching the 10-foot line and created difficult setter windows, resulting in attacking errors on four of the last five points of the set.
Third set action was a back-and-forth affair with 10 ties and seven lead changes. The last time the two teams met on Oct. 15, the Bobcats claimed a sweep victory with a tight third set score of 25-23. In the second meeting, deja vu of the previous bout was in the air. Match point was at hand, with the Bobcats up by one, 24-23. A thunderous Trojan kill off of a block by Zanobia Willis evened up the score. For the 12th time this season, Little Rock forced extra points in a set, winning five of their last 11. They pushed their situational record back to 0.500 with a roof block by Nedima Kamberovic and a Bobcat hitting error to take the set, 26-24.
In the fourth set, the Bobcats pulled out all of their tools in the toolbox. Movement was key to their success. By rotating together to fill gaps on the hardwood, both for digs and on second touches to set up attacks, Bobcat persistence again reigned supreme. The final 7-2 Texas State run featured a barrage of three blocks and four kills crafted by taking the movement above the net. The front row, J-cubed line of Jada Gardner, Jillian Slaughter, and Janell Fitzgerald led the charge. Match point was an opposite slide attack from Janell Fitzgerald down the line to beat both the Little Rock (14-12, 5-9 Sun Belt) block and back row defense to the spot. Fitzgerald booked her 10th double-double of the season with 18 kills and 12 digs in the four-set win.
“Emily (and I) were talking throughout the entire game, just making sure we were both comfortable, and I think (she and I) have a special relationship when we’re on the court together to be able to know, ‘I’ve got your back, you’ve got my back.’ That shows,” Fitzgerald said. “Every time I got blocked she was right there behind me, trying to get that ball, just in case. Or she’s talking to me through plays. So I think having that comfortability to swing away was the key to being able to do those last couple kills”
Next up for the Bobcats (14-11, 10-2) is a home matinee match against Arkansas State (14-12, 5-9) on Sunday at 11 a.m.
