Texas State Volleyball Battles to Victory in 5-set Duel

by Kiersten Ehr
Sports Reporter

The Bobcats kept their loyal fans at Strahan Coliseum on their feet the entire night as Texas State and UT Arlington battled to the finish playing five sets on the night. The volleyball team won the last set to finish the night with a well deserved win after a two and a half hour match (set 1: 30-28, set 2: 25-19, set 3: 25-27, set 4: 20-25, set 5: 15-13).

Head coach Karen Chisum mentioned that four of her girls finished with double-digit kills on the night (Jordan Kohl with 24 kills, Kelsey Weynand with 22 kills, Morgan Lewis with 11 kills, and Lauren Kirch with 10 kills.) Texas State now moves onto 11-8 on the season and 6-1 in the Sun Belt Conference (third place right under Appalachian State holding the second place mark).

Chisum was in relief coming to our post-game interview after her girls won the match over UT Arlington. Chisum mentioned that she was frustrated that Texas State didn’t win the sweep in the third set over the Mavericks… but her team pulled out a victory, which is what truly matters. Coach also pointed out that Sierra Smith is injured and may not play this Friday.

“I hope our kids remember what happened in the first two games,” said Chisum. “I know we won’t quit. I’m super proud of our kids for battling in game four, it was really ugly, but we came back and made it a game.”

Kohl had her best offensive game of her career with a new career high of 24 kills and 51 attempts with a .314 hitting percentage. Kohl mentioned to our KTSW sports broadcasters in a post-game interview that she focuses on getting her job done every night to make the team win those important games.

“All I care is that I get the job done on my side of the court,” said Kohl.

Kohl and Weynand have both stepped up as leaders on the volleyball team this year, which has shown on the court. Weynand had a break out game putting down 22 kills and 11 digs for the Bobcat’s third double-double of the 2015 season and Weynand’s second of the year. Kohl mentioned that she has clicked more so this season with Weynand since the two girls get more sets.

“She (Weynand) is very good at establishing our middles and creating a whole or split which is what we do a lot in practice. We do a good two hours of just setting the ball,” said Kohl.

Texas State has great chemistry on the court which  showed last night as the Bobcat’s didn’t give up without a fight.

“We had great defense and great passes. It was a team effort,” said Weynand.
Standing out for the Bobcats was setter Erin Hoppe. Hoppe paved the way to help her teammates with a career high with 62 assists, averaging 12.4 assists per set on the night.

Texas State will face the Big 12 Baylor at 7 p.m. Friday night. Chisum mentioned she isn’t too worried about facing the Bears.

“We will go into Baylor with the intent of beating them,” said Chisum.

On October 15th, Texas State will play at UT Arlington for another Sun Belt Conference match-up. Last year the Bobcats won in San Marcos, but couldn’t pull out a win at UT Arlington’s home turf. Kohl mentioned that the key to beating UT Arlington next week will be focusing on getting ahead early in the match.

“We have to start on them at the beginning,” said Kohl. “We know they play much better at home. I think that going into five sets was actually a good thing because we know what they good at like off blocks and where their go to hitters are.”