The Texas State volleyball team took Texas-Arlington to the fifth set Wednesday night on the road, but eventually fell short, 3-2.
Amber Calhoun, junior middle blocker, said the Bobcats let a match get away.
“It’s always hard playing on the road, but every team is beatable,” Calhoun said. “We could have won tonight, but we’re excited to return home this weekend.”
Coach Karen Chisum said she was impressed with the team UTA fielded.
“UTA had a good ball team,” Chisum said. “It’s the best team I’ve seen from them in years. Their two outside hitters took the match over and would not allow them to lose.”
Texas State dropped the first set 25-20 to dig themselves a hole early. Amari Deardorff, freshman outside hitter, said the Bobcats never found their groove.
“We were very up and down,” Deardorff said. “We never consistently played our game all night.”
Chisum said the Bobcats failed to counteract what they knew the Mavericks would do early on.
“We didn’t respond early, and they beat us all over the court,” Chisum said. “We were able to make some good adjustments and get back into the match.”
Calhoun said Texas State was able to zero in on what UTA was doing in between the first and second set.
“They had a few shots in the first set that worked well,” Calhoun said. “When we came out in set two, we recognized the shots and were able to make adjustments on defense.”
Deardorff and Calhoun led Texas State with 14 kills each. Calhoun said the block was not as big of an advantage as it may have appeared in the box score.
“Our block was an advantage at times and a disadvantage at others,” Calhoun said. “They challenged us on the block as well, but we got off some good shots.”
Deardorff said the ability displayed Wednesday is what she expects personally on a regular basis.
“This is a way I’m capable of playing all the time,” Deardorff said. “Some of my other games have been subpar by my standards. I was glad I was more myself and was able to help out the team tonight.”
Chisum said the start and end of matches have plagued the Bobcats.
“We have to start matches faster,” Chisum said. “We’ll turn it over to our captains to figure something out and we have to find a way to win in the fifth set.”
Calhoun said the Bobcats might have experienced some nerves in the final set Wednesday.
“We may have been anxious,” Calhoun said. “We might have been thinking too much, but we’ve struggled in fifth sets.”
Chisum said the competition level the Mavericks demonstrated Wednesday is something the Bobcats will have to get used to in this season’s Southland Conference.
“There is nobody in the Southland Conference that is not good,” Chisum said. “This is as competitive as the Southland Conference has ever been.”