Texas State athletes receive Sun Belt Weekly Awards

Texas State racked up a number of weekly awards from the Sun Belt Conference following a successful weekend.

The Bobcats are coming off of a week where they had an upset win over Baylor in football, beat both North Texas and #13 ranked Houston in volleyball and defeated Houston Christian in soccer, to snap a three-game losing streak.

Bobcat Volleyball duo nab Conference awards

The Sun Belt Conference announced Tuesday that Texas State’s Samantha Wunsch was named Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week and Ryann Torres was named Sun Belt Setter of the Week.

These awards come following the Bobcats 2-0 power weekend where they swept #13 Houston and beat North Texas. After the wins, the Bobcats are receiving votes in the AVCA Polls.

“So proud of Ryann and Sam, they both performed at a high level this past weekend,” said Head Coach Sean Huiet. “Our team hitting percentage is a direct reflection of Ryann running our offense and putting her hitters in great situations. Sam not only finished for us, but her block was a big factor in both wins. Love the team success we are having this early in the season which is leading to these individual awards.”

Wunsch had a lightsout weekend for the Bobcats. The sophomore hit .426 (26-3-54) on the weekend, including a 15-kill and six block showing against North Texas, where she hit .448. Wunsch had nine blocks on the weekend for 1.13 per set. She was responsible for 26 kills over two matches for an average of 3.25 per set.

Torres had 88 assists on the weekend, averaging 11 per set, which helped the Bobcats to a team .354 hitting percentage.

The setter had a season- high 52 assists in the Bobcats win over North Texas. She helped the Bobcats to a season-high .392 hitting percentage against Houston, which included assisting five Bobcats to hitting above .350.

The senior was also one dig shy of putting up a double-double against the Cougars.

Wunsch was named MVP of the Texas State Invitational, and Torres was named to the All-Tournament team. These are Wunsch’s and Torres’ first-career Sun Belt Conference awards.

The ‘Cats will be back in action today as they host the 2023 Bobcat Classic. Starting it off at 6 p.m., the Bobcats host Southeastern Louisiana. Also in the Classic are California and Abilene Christian.

Finley wins OPOW following historic win over Baylor

After leading Texas State to a double-digit win on the road over Baylor to open the 2023 season, quarterback TJ Finley was named the Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Week for the period ending Sept. 3, the conference office announced on Monday.

Finley, a first-year transfer from Auburn, accounted for four touchdowns (three passing, one rushing) and was 22-of-30 for 298 yards passing in the 4231 Texas State win on Saturday. He added 18 rushing yards to finish with 316 yards of total offense in his first career start as a Bobcat (12th career start overall).

A Ponchatoula, La. native, Finley had touchdown passes of 10, 26 and 27 yards to go with his 16-yard rushing touchdown as the Bobcats finished with 11 plays of 10 yards or more on the ground or 15 yards in the air.

Finley and the Bobcats powered Texas State to its first win over a “Power 5” program with the victory against Baylor. The Bobcats also scored their most points in a regulation road game since 2014.

Finley is the first Bobcat to win the Sun Belt’s Offensive Player of the Week award since Tyler Vitt in November 2021.

Texas State will return to action on Saturday for the I-35 Rivalry matchup at UTSA (2:30 pm, ESPN+). It is the first meeting between the two schools since 2020.