Bobcats Open Season With Match Against Bearkats

Due to impending weather, Texas State returned to San Marcos Friday night. Saturday’s match against Texas A&M was canceled and will not be made up.

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Texas State volleyball team kicked off 2017 with a 3-0 victory over Sam Houston State Friday afternoon in the first match of the Texas A&M Invitational inside Reed Arena.

The Bobcats (1-0) earned their seventh-straight victory over the Bearkats (0-1) and picked up their first season-opening triumph since the 2014 campaign.

Sophomore Megan Porter led the way with a match-high 15 kills. She had just two errors on 37 swings and finished with a career-best .371 hitting percentage.

Freshman Brooke Johnson dished out 18 assists, while senior Erin Hoppe added 15. Johnson, Porter and sophomore Micah Dinwiddie all had eight digs. Sophomore Marissa Kindred totaled a career-high eight kills, nearly tripling her previous best in the process.

The two teams had an extended feeling-out process to open proceedings that resulted in neither side leading by more than two points for nearly the entire first set. SHSU was the first to take a three-point lead, a mark it reached at 20-17.

The Bearkats maintained that margin up to 22-19 until a 5-1 Texas State run gave the maroon and gold the season’s first set point. TXST could not convert but, after Sam Houston State failed on its lone set point of the day at 25-24, the Bobcats were able to win the final three to secure the first frame 27-25.

The second and third sets did not include nearly as many theatrics, as the Bobcats were able to close out their former Southland Conference rivals in straights.

An early kill from Porter gave Texas State a 6-5 lead in the second set, and the team never trailed again en route to the 25-21 win. TXST led by as much as six points, and SHSU never got closer than two.

Sam Houston State scored the first two points of the third set and led 5-2 at one point, but the Bobcats used a 9-1 run to move ahead 11-6. The Bearkats closed the gap to 11-10, but the maroon and gold won 14 of the last 19 points to clinch the 25-15 win.

Brooke White was the lone Bearkat with double-figure kills, finishing with 10. Jaclyn Ward contributed a match-high 21 assists.

Texas State led in kills (40-35), attack percentage (.270-.120), assists (38-29), service aces (6-1), digs (35-31), and blocks (7-4).

The Bobcats returned at 4 p.m. for a match against VCU. The meeting was the first between the two programs. Due to impending weather, Texas State returned to San Marcos Friday night. Saturday’s match against Texas A&M was canceled and will not be made up.