Texas State Volleyball Team Splits A Pair Of Matches At North Texas Challenge

DENTON, Texas  –  The Texas State volleyball team split a pair of matches on the final day of the North Texas Challenge at the UNT Volleyball Center on Saturday. The Bobcats began the day with a 3-1 victory over intrastate rival North Texas before dropping a 3-0 decision against Nevada on Saturday afternoon.

The Wolf Pack took control of the match early in all three games and finished the day with an attack percentage of .446 to .129. Megan Porter led Texas State with seven kills, while Jordan Kohl added four and Kelsey Weynand had three.

Nevada jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the opening set and increased the lead to 7-1 before Texas State called time out. After Nevada’s lead expanded to 14-6, the Bobcats rallied back to within 15-10 before the Wolf Pack pulled away with a 25-15 win in the first set.

In the second set, Jaliyah Bolden scored the first point but the Wolf Pack scored seven consecutive points to take a 7-1 lead. The Bobcats pulled to within 10-6 when Megan Porter and Lauren Kirch scored two points each. Texas State scored four consecutive points to close to within 16-10 following Weynand’s recorded two kills. Emily Shelton and Morgan Lewis each scored another point. However, Nevada answered with a 5-0 run and extended its lead to 21-11. The Wolf Pack went on to win 25-13.

In the third set, the Bobcats scored a pair of points on a kill by Lewis and an attack error by Nevada to pull within 5-4, before the Wolf Pack used a 9-1 run to take a 14-5 lead. Texas State came back to within 17-13 on a kill by Bolden before Nevada closed out the match outscoring Texas State 8-6 and won its third straight set by a score of 25-19.

The Bobcats won their first game of the season earlier in the day with a 3-1 victory over intrastate rival North Texas. The two teams split the first two sets as Texas State opened the match winning the first set 25-17. North Texas answered when the Mean Green edged the Bobcats 25-22. However, Texas State came back to win the third set by a score of 25-17 and clinched the victory when they won the fourth set, 25-21.

Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference selection Jordan Kohl, Madison Daigle and Megan Porter led the Bobcats with 13 kills. Erin Hoppe registered 41 assists and six kills. Kelsey Weynand also led Texas State with five aces, 11 digs and added eight kills. Holly Milam led North Texas with 11 kills.

The Bobcats opened the match outhitting the Mean Green (.310-.034) with Daigle leading the team with five kills and Porter adding four. Weynand and Hoppe also added a service ace each and Weynand recorded four digs to lead Texas State.

In the second set, both teams battled back and forth before the Mean Green used a 9-5 run to pull away 25-22 and even the team score at 1-1.

The Bobcats rebounded in the third set when they broke a 5-5 tie with a 7-0 run and took a commanding lead. Texas State went on to win the set 25-17.

Both teams exchanged leads in the fourth set as North Texas held a 20-18 advantage before the Bobcats outscored the Mean Green 7-1 the rest of the way to claim its first victory of the season.

After splitting the two matches on Saturday, the Bobcats return to San Marcos and will host Baylor in their first home match of the season at Strahan Coliseum on Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. Texas State also hosts the Creeds and Crest Classic on Sept. 2-3.