Texas State swept by Longhorns, ready to return home

AUSTIN — Sean Huiet wasn’t upset about the outcome of the match. But he was upset about Texas State’s missed opportunities.

The Bobcats were swept by No. 1 Texas on Tuesday inside Gregory Gym, 3-0 (18-25, 13-25, 13-25). The head coach knew his team wouldn’t be on the same level as the top team in the country and last season’s national championship runner-up. But he still expected a better performance.

“If the No. 1 team in the country is gonna hit a .458, you gotta do something more,” Huiet said. “We just weren’t on our game tonight.”

It’s tough to be on your game when you aren’t at full strength. Senior middle blocker Jill Slaughter hasn’t played a game yet this season. And Preseason Setter of the Year Emily DeWalt had her right arm in a sling on Tuesday, missing her second consecutive match with a rotator cuff injury.

But Texas State (1-6) still showed it could compete at times. The maroon and gold took a 9-8 lead in the first set and only trailed 15-12 as the team went into the media timeout. The Longhorns (5-0) pulled away, 25-18, but the Bobcats played some of their best ball of the night on the final two points, forcing long rallies and building momentum.

The visitors never trailed by more than two when Texas reached its 10th point. But that’s also the most frustrating part to Huiet.

“We're battling and we're doing some things. We keep saying it, you'll see we can be really good. We're just not consistent with it yet,” Huiet said. “And I think some of that's early on in the season and the schedule we're playing. And we're hoping it really kind of turns around and gets them more comfortable playing these types of teams. But we just need to be more consistent.”

Some of Texas State’s biggest struggles came in the service game. The Bobcats committed seven service errors during the match and gave up nine aces to the hosts.

The team also struggled getting into system. Senior libero Kayla Granado led the visitors with nine digs. Sophomore setter Ryann Torres finished the night with 17 assists. Graduate and redshirt junior outside hitters Jada Gardner and Lauren Teske, respectively, tied for a team-high six kills.

The maroon and gold will finally play in its first home matches of the season in the Bobcat Invitational on Friday, hosting Alabama (5-2) at 11 a.m. and Miami (5-0) at 6:30 p.m. inside Strahan Arena. Huiet’s hopeful his players can better execute in a more-familiar setting.

“We're excited to be home and play in front of the home crowd,” the head coach said. “Strahan is a fun environment, and we have two good teams coming in but two teams we know. We're going to be ready for them, so we're just anxious to get home and play in front of our home crowd.”