Volleyball finishes as runner-up in Sun Belt Tourney Championship

TXST Release:

FOLEY, Ala. — It’s where Sean Huiet wanted to be when Sunday, Nov. 20 rolled around on the calendar. But it wasn’t the result the third-year Texas State volleyball head coach wanted as the Bobcats fell to James Madison in four sets for the Sun Belt Conference Championship. 

Looking to carry over momentum from its rollercoaster of a five-set win over South Alabama in the conference’s semifinals the night before, Texas State, again, tapped into that raw emotion to take Sunday’s second set to even the match after James Madison (24-4) took the over frame. 

Texas State, then, attempted to use lessons learned for the previous night’s fifth set during Sunday’s third set. With the Dukes serving for set point at 24-20, the Bobcats strung together back-to-back points to cut their deficit in half. But Caroline Dozier and Miëtte Veldman linked up for the set-ending kill for JMU. 

The fourth set was more of the same for Texas State as the Bobcat got to within one point at 22-21 — after James Madison broke a 19-19 tie and hustled ahead by three points — but the Dukes capped the match with a Bre Reid kill and back-to-back attack errors from Janell Fitzgerald and Lauren Teske. 

FROM HEAD COACH SEAN HUIET

“My heart breaks for this team. They competed so hard, but we just couldn’t get things to fall our way. Kudos to James Madison for how they served and put the pressure on us and slowed our offense down. As I told the team, this loss doesn’t define us or our season: we won our division for the sixth straight year, and we played in our sixth straight championship match. We have no reason to hang our heads.”

STAT LEADERS

• Kills – Janell Fitzgerald (15)
• Assists – Emily DeWalt (48)
• Service Aces – Jacqueline Lee, Alyssa Ortega (1)
• Digs – Emily DeWalt (18)
• Blocks – Jillian Slaughter (2.0)

SCORES BY SET

• 1st | James Madison 25, Texas State 19
• 2nd | Texas State 25, James Madison 22
• 3rd | James Madison 25, Texas State 22
• 4th | James Madison 25, Texas State 21

MATCH NOTES

• Texas State’s fifth-year setter Emily DeWalt finished Sunday afternoon’s four-set match with her 81st career double-double as she was credited with 48 assists and 18 digs.
  • DeWalt’s 18 digs were a season high and were the most since defending 20 attacks at Dayton on August 28, 2021. 
• The foursome of Emily DeWalt, Janell Fitzgerald, Jillian Slaughter and Lauren Teske finish their Texas State volleyball careers with a 12-2 record in postseason Sun Belt Conference tournament matches.
  • The foursome has won at least two postseason conference tournament matches in all five seasons as a Bobcat. 
• Fourth-year senior Caitlan Buettner, who battled undisclosed injuries throughout a majority of the season, returned to form in Texas State’s run to its sixth consecutive postseason conference tournament championship match.
  • In 12 sets played against three different opponents, Buettner finished with 10-or-more kills in every match and had an attack percentage of .333-or-higher in each match.
    • Buettner finished Texas State’s quarterfinal and championship matches without being credited with an attack error.
      • Louisiana: 10-0-18 (.556)
      • James Madison: 11-0-20 (.550)
• Speaking of Buettner, both her and Jada Gardner were named to the six-member Sun Belt Volleyball All-Tournament Team.
  • The recognition marks the second career Sun Belt All-Tournament Team selection for each Gardner and Buettner, who both accomplished the feat in 2021. 
• Eight different Bobcat student-athletes was credited with at least one assist throughout Saturday’s four-set match: Emily DeWalt (48), Jacqueline Lee (3), Jillian Slaughter (2), Ryann Torres (2), Jada Gardner (1), Caitlan Buettner (1), Alyssa Ortega (1) and Kayla Tello (1).
  • The eight are the most by Texas State in any postseason conference tournament match this season and most since having seven in a five-set win at Coastal Carolina on Friday, Nov. 11, 2022. 
• Fourth-year senior Tessa Marshall finished Sunday’s match with her eight matches with an attack percentage of .500 or higher with at least 10-or-more attacks.
  • Marshall also accomplished the feat in Texas State’s four-set win over Louisiana on Friday, Nov. 18, when the middle blocker finished with 10 kills and zero attack errors on 15 total attacks for a .667 attack percentage. 

UP NEXT

• The NCAA Division I Volleyball Selection Show will be at 7:30 p.m. ET / 6:30 p.m. CT on Sunday, Nov. 27 on ESPNU. Texas State (24-7, 14-2) entered the 2022 Sun Belt Conference Championships ranked No. 59 in the latest RPI standings.