From staff reports
San Antonio — A solid team effort by advanced the Texas State Bobcats to the Southland Conference Volleyball Championship match, after a 3-1 (25-17, 16-25, 28-26, 26-24) victory over Lamar Saturday in the first semifinal match of the day at the UT-San Antonio Convocation Center.
The win set sets up a title tilt today against Stephen F. Austin, which beat Nicholls State in the second semifinal. Match time is 2 p.m. at Texas-San Antonio’s Convocation Center.
“I’m excited and proud of our ladies, they really battled,” Texas State head coach Karen Chisum said.
Texas State’s Melinda Cave registered her fourth double-double of the season with 14 kills and 13 digs, Shelbi Irvin also notched her seventh double-double of the season with 21 assists and 14 digs.
Mo Middleton led Texas State with 16 kills and eight digs, while senior outside hitter Jessica Weynand collected 10 kills and nine digs.
“We knew it was going to be a good game. We stayed calm and didn’t panic and we came back and knew what we had to do,” Weynand said. “We just had high energy. Coach told us to stay calm and play with heart, and that’s exactly what we came back and did.”
Defense was the key for the Texas State front line as they created a brick wall against Lamar totaling 11 blocks in the opening set. The Bobcat defense registered three blocks in the first eight points to go up 8-4
forcing the Cardinals to take a timeout. Texas State went up by five, before Lamar recorded back-to-back blocks to come to within three.
A Bobcat attack error brought Lamar to within one at the 11-10 mark, but two kills by Melinda Cave ended that run. The two teams traded points, as a solo block from former San Marcos High standout Jillian Wolpman gave Texas State and added charge as they went up 20-16.
Cave and Mo Middleton gathered two kills each, combined with a Cardinal set ball handling error to win the first set 25-18. Texas State hit .238 to Lamar’s .027.
Lamar came out energized to start the second as they went on a 6-0 run to stun the Bobcats. Amber Calhoun nailed a kill down the middle to end the run, but the Cardinals stayed one step ahead of Texas State for the first half of the set.
Texas State came to within three at 13-16, but errors haunted the Bobcats in the second half of the set. Adrienne Meengs headed the Cardinal offense who hit .222, holding Texas State to .000. The Cardinals won the set 25-16, tying the match at 1-all.
Momentum swung in the Bobcats’ favor in the third. Having to beat the Cardinals in extra points, Texas State won the set 28-26. The third set saw 15 ties and six lead changes as Texas State hit .317 and
Lamar hit .178.
“We could have folded after set two. It was set three where we were done, but we came
back to win it,” Chisum said. “They really fought and our fans were good. We may not have played our best, but we played hard when we had to, to get the point.”
Texas State propelled in the fourth as they recorded 16 kills on .229 hitting. The fourth was almost identical to the third set, as Texas State won 26-24.
Texas State out-blocked Lamar 29-12 and hit .198 with 57 kills and 77 digs.
