Bobcats drop first SBC match to JMU in five sets

Texas State lost a heart-breaker in five sets (24-26, 25-19, 21-25, 25-22, 11-15) to James Madison (JMU) Friday night inside Strahan Arena. 

Despite the loss, Texas State became the first-ever Sun Belt team to win multiple sets against the Dukes. The Bobcats and JMU (9-3, 3-0) battled throughout the night in front of a crowd of 1,050 fans, with 25 tied scores during the match’s five sets.

“Tonight was frustrating. It’s the same thing we’ve been talking about — we’re just too inconsistent right now. We knew JMU is a really good team, so they were going to game plan really well. And the most frustrating part for us, as a staff, is that we knew (Miëtte Veldman) and (Sophie Davis) were their go-to (student-athletes) and they did their job tonight,” head coach Sean Huiet said via Texas State Athletics. “And some of our go-to people — some that are all-conference level — did not have their best nights. I thought Lauren Teske did a great job off the bench. 

“I probably should’ve gone to her a little sooner, but it’s frustrating in a way, but we have to learn from this and bounce back quick to be able to turn around and play them again, at noon. I did like our composure to get it to the fifth set, though, because we were kind of wavering there for a little bit.”

Texas State also became the first team since Florida A&M on Sept. 3 to hold James Madison to under 20 points in a set. The Bobcats held the Dukes to 19 points in set two, holding JMU’s offense to a .185 attack percentage. 

The Bobcats will play one more match with the Dukes on Oct. 1 at 12 p.m. inside Strahan Arena before heading to Lafayette, La., to play Louisiana in their third Sun Belt conference series of 2022 on Oct. 7 at 6 p.m. and Oct. 8 at 2 p.m.