Texas State Clinches Home Tourney Championship Saturday

True freshman Janell Fitzgerald produced 10 kills of her own, while classmate Emily DeWalt used 36 assists and 10 digs to post a third-straight double-double.

SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State volleyball team swept Incarnate Word 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-20) to clinch the 2018 Creeds & Crests Classic Championship Saturday afternoon inside Strahan Arena.

The Bobcats (3-3) moved to 3-0 on the weekend in their home tournament, while the Cardinals fell to 0-6 on the season.

Junior Cheyenne Huskey had the best offensive outing of her young TXST tenure as she finished with 13 kills and just a pair of attack errors on 27 swings for a .407 hitting percentage.

True freshman Janell Fitzgerald produced 10 kills of her own, while classmate Emily DeWalt used 36 assists and 10 digs to post a third-straight double-double.

Sophomore Brooke Johnson (14) and juniors Micah Dinwiddie (13) and Mattie Adams (11) combined for 38 digs, while senior Madison Daigle and true freshman Jillian Slaughter teamed up for 17 kills and a .419 hitting percentage.

No UIW player reached double figures in kills. The visitors were led by nine from Bethany Clapp. Kendall Kilchrist had 25 assists, while Cameron Edwards, Madelynn Miller and Kilchrist all contributed a team-best seven digs.

Texas State led in every statistical category, including kills (45-30), hitting percentage (.262-.131), assists (43-30), aces (4-3), digs (54-35), and blocks (10.5-8.0).

SET 1

Each set featured a plethora of ties and lead changes, beginning with the opener that saw eight and three, respectively. Neither team was able to find a lead of more than three points throughout until Texas State used a 6-0 run to turn a miniscule 20-19 advantage into the final set score of 25-19.

SET 2

The middle stanza saw a whopping 14 ties and a trio of lead changes, as the two teams again battled to gain control of proceedings. The final draw came at 18-18, and it was the home side that gained separation in the waning moments of the period. TXST closed on a 7-1 run to go on top two sets to love.

SET 3

Incarnate Word battled until the very end. The visitors played themselves into an 18-14 advantage before inevitably succumbing to one final push from the maroon and gold. Texas State used a 6-2 spurt to pull level at 20-20 before venturing on one final 5-0 run to clinch the shutout victory.

Texas State improved to 8-1 all-time over Incarnate Word in just the second meeting between the two programs since 1982.

The final match of the Creeds & Crests Classic will pit TXST against Abilene Christian at 6:30 p.m. later today. The Wildcats are 0-2 in the tournament so far and sport a 2-5 record this season.