By Tyler Mayforth

Texas State was 99 percent sure of its destination in the first round of the NCAA volleyball tournament.

The Bobcats just needed to see their name flash across the television screen Sunday afternoon to eliminate that final sliver of doubt.

Texas State is headed to Austin on Thursday to play the Texas Longhorns. It will be the third time in the last six years the two teams played in the NCAA tournament.

“This is going to be another opportunity for us to play close to home,” Bobcats head coach Karen Chisum said. “We’re familiar with what Texas does, but we still need to game plan like they’re a brand new opponent.”

Texas State actually didn’t play the Longhorns this year during the regular season. The Bobcats were a regular fixture in Texas’ annual invitational.

“It was weird this year to have not played them at all,” Chisum said. “We’ve been collecting tape and finding out about them and I have to tell you: They’re just as good as before.”

The Longhorns, who are ranked No. 2 in the nation, are still the offensive-minded team.

Texas has several hard-swinging outside hitters that punish the ball for kills. Destinee Hooker and Juliann Faucette lead an overpowering attack by the Longhorns. Hooker terminated 4.87 points per set during the regular season.

Faucette and Rachael Adams posted 270 and 142 kills to aid Hooker on offense, respectively.

“Destinee will get her kills, there’s no doubt about it,” Chisum said. “We just need to be able to limit her effectiveness. It’s going to come down to how good our serve-passing game is and how well we play defense.”

While defense wasn’t Texas State’s strongest asset, the Bobcats have stepped it up as the season has worn on.

Texas State played its best defense of the season during the Southland Conference tournament. The Bobcats didn’t allow many attack attempts to be converted and won nine of the 11 sets they played.

Jessica Weynand and Ally Buitron dug out attack after attack while Melinda Cave and Amber Calhoun denied opposing outside hitters at the net.

“We really played our best defense during the tournament,” Chisum said. “I hadn’t seen much of it during the first half of the season, but the kids are making a concerted effort to improve and it’s showing.”

Texas State had a shaky start to the 2009 season, losing its first six matches. The Bobcats finally evened their record at 12-12 midway through the campaign and went on a 13-match win streak to close the year.

It was too little, too late according to the NCAA selection committee, as they put Texas State against the No. 2 team in the nation.

“I told the kids this and I’ll tell you the same thing: We shot ourselves in the foot by starting out so slow,” Chisum said. “If we won a few of those matches, we’d be a No. 3 seed playing against either TCU or Rice.

“We’re not going to make excuses though. This is our road and we’ll do our best to make the most of it.”

First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m.