No Doubt

Texas State clinches team's first At Large bid in program history under motto 'Leave No Doubt'

Tension filled the Presidential House in the evening hours last Sunday as Texas State awaited their fate during the NCAA Volleyball Selection Show.

It was a position senior setter Ryann Torres was all too familiar with as last season saw Texas State in a similar position only to be snubbed.

“When it got down to four teams, I was sitting there saying ‘Oh my gosh, I hope [we make it],” Torres said. “When they said SMU, I could feel the tension rise out of nowhere and have this gut feeling. When they finally showed our name, everyone went crazy.”

Quiet tension turned into joyful celebration as the Bobcats were selected to the NCAA Volleyball Tournament as an At Large bid sending Texas State to Austin for the Texas Regional.

Even though Head Coach Sean Huiet had in inkling that the Bobcats were going to advance, the painful memories of last season were hard to overcome.

“I think we all thought we were going to the Austin Regional,” Huiet said. “But again we have been on the other side of it not that long ago. We thought we did what we needed to do to get in but we weren’t sure because they didn’t show the Sun Belt enough respect. It was fun. A lot of people didn’t expect this from us but we knew how good we can be. It was exciting.”

The At Large bid was the first in Texas State program history as the Bobcats were one of the four Sun Belt Volleyball teams to qualify for the NCAA Tournament.

One of the major differences between last season and this season has been the strength which increased Texas State’s RPI along with a couple of key wins against Houston, South Alabama and Coastal Carolina who all made the tournament.

“We had some good wins and our RPI was higher,” Huiet said. “We didn’t have anything that was considered a bad loss. We joked that we left a ‘little’ doubt but we were in a better position than we were last year. So we thought we did enough to [clinch the at large bid]. This group is young and they are really hungry to do some stuff Texas State hasn’t done. For them to be the first group to clinch an At-Large Bid in the NCAA Tournament speaks volumes to our team.”

For a Bobcat program that has relied on the need for an Automatic Bid in past seasons, it was a step in the right direction for Huiet and the Bobcats who many outside of San Marcos believed this was going to be a down year.

“It speaks volumes about our program,” Huiet said. “Like what [President Damphousse] said to me, people thought we were rebuilding. We knew we could be better than what we have been. Naturally when you lose a class like we did, people tend to think you take a step back. My job was to take this program to higher heights. We knew who we had in our locker room and who was going to be ready to go.

Despite having to deal with injuries, the Bobcats and their motto of “Leave No Doubt” pushed through the adversity to make history as Texas State will face off against SMU in the first round of the tournament.

Much like how the season has gone for Texas State, it is now time to prove those same doubters wrong again.

“Again if you told me in August we would get an at large bid [I wouldn’t believe you],” Huiet said. “We dealt with some injuries and things like that, but I knew the potienal of this team. My team and my staff just went to work. We wanted to prove people wrong, which is what we have been doing all season long.”

Torres and her teammates are up for the task.

“Being chosen to go to the NCAA Tournament we proved ourselves to a big audience,” Torres said. “We heard a lot of doubt from a lot of people so getting into this tournament was almost a ‘I told so’. I told you that we were not going to leave no doubt and we can still do big things without our big senior class last year.”

Tip-off for Texas State-SMU is scheduled for 4 p.m. today at Gregory Gym on the campus of the University of Texas.

cmcwilliams@sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc