Bobcats sweep Troy, take control of Sun Belt West

In the final home game of the season, Texas State went out in style by completing a two-game sweep over the Troy Trojans during the weekend, winning Saturday’s match, 3-1 (19-25, 2525-19, 25-16, 25-7).

The sweep moves Texas State in sole possession of first place in the Sun Belt West Division while remaining one game behind James Madison in the chase for the Sun Belt Regular Season Title.

Saturday’s Senior Day  game was emotional for the team, especially for head coach Sean Huiet who helped recruit several of the players to the team when they were just freshman.

“With it being the last set of home matches for these nine student-athletes who helped continue to make this program what it is today,” Huiet said. “We all tried not to look at each other because we knew how emotional we’d get, and we needed to take care of business today.

The Bobcats got off to a rough start when Troy came out in the first set and won in a 25-19 victory to go up 1-0 on Texas State

But it wasn’t the first time Texas State was caught in this scenario as it was in a similar situation Friday night when the Trojans also took the first set.

According to Huiet, it was just weathering the storm during the first set and calming down to comeback against a tough Troy team.

“I think once we got through that first set,” Huiet said,  “We were able to settle down and play more volleyball the way we know how, especially during that fourth set.”

The Bobcats stormed in the second set and knocked off Troy 25-19 to tie the game up at 1-1.

In a pivotal set, Texas State did not relent as it took the third set at 25-16 to take the lead back at 2-1.

One of the keys to the Bobcats’ success on the court was returning Troy serve which senior Emily DeWalt explained further.

“We just talked about (their serve receive) all week at practice,” DeWalt said. “They have a really shallow serve receive pattern so we just wanted to try to push them. I thought the serve receive ratio tonight was really, really good, so it’s always a plus when you’re able to capitalize on that aspect of the match.”

The match crescendoed in the final set as Texas State dominated and rolled the Trojans in emphatic fashion with a 25-7 win to put the game away.

After the match, Huiet talk about the seniors and how much they have contributed to the not only himself but the Texas State volleyball program as a whole.

“I’m so thankful for what these group of young women have done for not only myself but this program and university,” Huiet said. “I’m forever grateful for them.”

Texas State closes out the regular season on the road against Coastal Carolina with the Bobcats needing to sweep the Chanticleers and have James Madison lose once or twice to South Alabama to clinch at least a share of the Sun Belt Regular Season title.