Texas State earns Senior Day sweep over Arkansas State

Texas State played a nearly perfect set of volleyball in the second frame of its home finale on Sunday against Arkansas State.

The Red Wolves were held to just three kills but also committed three attacking errors, resulting in a .000 hitting percentage. The Bobcats countered with 18 kills and zero errors on 24 swings, hitting at .750%. The maroon and gold’s only flaws were giving up three service errors, which accounted for almost half of the visitors’ points in the 25-7 win.

It was one of the many ways that made the team’s Senior Day a special one, as Texas State swept Arkansas State, 3-0 (25-20, 25-7, 26-24).

“I thought we played really well today,” head coach Sean Huiet said. “You always get a little excited, a little nervous for the emotions of a senior day. There were lots of tears early on. I'll probably cry during this (interview) because these kids mean so much. But I thought we played really well today, so excited to get the win and get a little rest now.”

Sunday was the last match in San Marcos for libero Kayla Granado, defensive specialist Brooke Johnson, outside hitter Kenedi Rutherford and middle blocker Tyeranee Scott. Each of the four seniors made it a memorable one.

Granado earned a kill in the first set, sending a free ball that barely made it over the net and tipped off two defenders before hitting the ground. It was her fourth kill of the season and ninth of her career. She combined with Johnson for 17 digs on the day.

The Red Wolves sent a pass too close to the net late in the second set. Scott hammered the ball down, nailing the ball off a defender’s head and sending it out of bounds for a kill.

Scott and Rutherford each tallied 11 kills in the match, a season-high for Rutherford.

“You think about all the work and kind of the emotions that you put in — not only these four years, but everything before that — and the girls that you play with, it's really like a family,” Rutherford said. “And so, just kind of having that last game at home with your family, it just means the world.”

“The little things we do in the locker room, everything that we do before the game, pregame, practice, like, it's just nice to have a win at the end of it,” Scott added.

The Bobcats are now on a 10-match winning streak heading into the final week of the regular season. They’ll face Louisiana-Monroe on Friday and Louisiana on Saturday, both matches taking place on the road at 6 p.m.

Huiet was glad to get the Senior Day win on Sunday. He hopes the team can do even more for the upperclassmen.

“I can't say too much because I'll get emotional,” Huiet said. “But for my first senior class, what they've done to put trust in me and what we were doing, it was so easy for me to make that adjustment because I knew who was leading our team. I knew that they trusted me, I knew what our relationship was, I knew what they wanted to do and how they wanted to finish their career. So it just made it so much easier. And so I can't say thank you enough to them. We've got a long way to go but it's gonna be really different without those four in our gym.”