TXST VOLLEYBALL
Texas State continued their undefeated streak in conference play as the Bobcats defeated the Troy Trojans 3-0 [25-18, 2522, 25-19].
This comes after the Bobcats defeated Troy on Friday 3-0 [25-23, 25-20, 25-21].
“Any time you can beat a team 3-0 it’s always a good day,” Head Coach Sean Huiet said following the game on Saturday. “I like the energy and the things that we were doing better than last night so we got better. We talk a lot about getting better each match.
“Troy is a great team and suffered through some injuries but again they made it really competitive with what they have. They are a very good team and we will see them down the road towards the end of the season and in the tournament.”
In the first set, the Bobcats jumped out to an early lead and never looked, winning the set at 25-18.
The second set was a much more competitive affair with the Bobcats and the Trojans trading the lead back and forth.
Late in the set, the Trojans went up 20-18 with a chance to tie the game at 1-1. However the Bobcats had other ideas.
Texas State went on a 5-0 run to take a 23-20 lead before winning the second set 25-22.
“That is something you have seen a lot with this team,” Huiet said. “It is nice, but it is sometimes scary – like what happened with UTSA where we were down 2416 then scored 10 straight points. What I like about it is that they have shown we can do that to where we are never out of a match or out of a set.
“It doesn’t matter what three sets you have to win, you just need to win three sets. This team has proved they have a little gumption and grit to them. We just need to get a little more consistent and start stronger at times.”
Junior middle blocker Bailey Hanner, who finished the game with eight kills and four blocks, wasn’t panicked by trailing 20-18 in the second set.
“Everyone needed to calm down and [know that] we got this,” Hanner said. “All the close games we had so far, we know we have the fight within us so we needed to just relax.”
Freshman outside hitter M.J. McCurdy, who had nine kills for the Bobcats, agreed on how the Bobcats could use their past experience of trailing late in a given set before coming out on top with the win.
“We have proven it to ourselves in the past that we can do it,” McCurdy said. “I don’t think it was stressful on the court where everyone was ‘Oh my gosh, we need to play perfect.’ It was just us coming together.”
Texas State completed the sweep by winning the third set 25-19 despite trailing 16-14.
Sophomore outside hitter Samantha Wunsch led the team kills with 12. Senior setter Ryann Torres led the team in assists with 39.
The Bobcats are back on the road this weekend for a double-header series against South Alabama.
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