Texas State Tops Trojans In Little Rock

Texas State will now make the trek north for a showdown with defending SBC West champion Arkansas State.

Little Rock, Ark. – The Texas State volleyball team defeated Little Rock 3-0 (25-23, 25-18, 26-24) in a Sun Belt Conference match Friday night inside Jack Stephens Center.

The Bobcats (12-7, 4-1 SBC) earned their fourth-straight win, all by way of sweep. They also evened the all-time series with the Trojans (5-12, 1-4 SBC) at 5-5.

Erin Hoppe was the driving force of the offense, as she dished out 47 assists. The mark was a career-high in a three-set match for the senior setter and also the most by any Sun Belt player this year.

Sophomore Megan Porter (13), senior Jaliyah Bolden (12) and sophomore Amy Pflughaupt (11) all contributed double-digit kills. Junior Madison Daigle (8) and true freshman Tyeranee Scott (8) combined for 16 kills with two just errors on 25 swings. Sophomore Micah Dinwiddie had a match-high 15 digs.

Texas State had no luck figuring out the home side during the early proceedings, as Little Rock raced out to a 13-7 advantage. The Bobcats cut the deficit down to two at 13-11, but the Trojans pushed back ahead to find a 20-15 lead. The maroon and gold tightened up and used an 8-0 run on Pflughaupt’s serve to steal the period 25-23.

The two teams played to a 10-10 standstill in the second period, and it was the visitors that went ahead 18-13 thanks to an 8-3 run. Little Rock was unable to maintain any discernible comeback attempt, as the Bobcats claimed the frame 25-18.

The third set was all Texas State early, as the visitors took leads of 10-5 and 15-10. The Bobcats even found a comfortable 19-14 advantage, but the Trojans would not go down quietly. They used a 7-1 run to take a 21-20 lead and force TXST to burn both timeouts. The Bobcats stayed strong, however, and were able to secure their second match point with a 26-24 set victory.

No Trojan reached double-digit kills. Mya Robinson led the way with nine kills and nine digs. Taylor Lindberg had 32 assists, while Sydnee Martin added 11 digs.

TXST had match highs in kills (53-38), hitting percentage (.373-.220), assists (52-35), digs (48-40) and blocks (5-2). Little Rock led in service aces (5-0).

Texas State will now make the trek north for a showdown with defending SBC West champion Arkansas State. The Bobcats and Red Wolves will square off at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 7 in Jonesboro, Arkansas.