News 8 Austin

September 4, 2007

Bobcats Turned Back By Texas A&M 3-1

By: Texas State Media Relations

SAN MARCOS - Middle blockers Emily Jones and Amy Weigle combined for 35 kills and a .483 hitting percentage, but Texas A&M proved too strong in the end, defeating the Bobcats' 3-1 (22-30, 30-27, 30-24, 30-14) Tuesday night in Texas State's home opener.

A near-record crowd of 1,611 turned out despite wet weather, marking the second-largest home attendance ever for a volleyball match inside Strahan Coliseum and only the second time a Texas State home volleyball match tallied over 1,600 in attendance.

Texas State (2-3) also handed the Aggies (7-0) their first game loss in the match, snapping a streak of 16 straight wins for Texas A&M.

The match started tight, with both teams battling to a 15-15 tie at the midway point of game one. The Aggies then staged a 4-0 run to go up 19-15, and the Bobcats would get no closer than three points the rest of the game, losing 30-22.

The `Cats quickly rebounded in game two, jumping out to a 9-3 lead and prompting an Aggie timeout. Texas A&M responded with a 10-4 run to tie it at 13-13, and the teams began another point trade-off until Texas State gained an edge with a pair of Shelbi Irvin aces and three Aggie errors to go up 23-19. Texas A&M fought back again to tie it at 26-26, but Jones recorded three of the final four points, killing it twice before serving an ace for game point and a 30-27 Bobcat win.

Texas State showed no signs of slowing down after half time, building a 13-10 lead to start an important game three, but an 8-3 Aggie run gave Texas A&M a 24-19 lead. The Bobcats closed to within two, but another 6-2 run closed out the game 30-24 for the Aggies and put Texas A&M up 2-1.

The Aggies shut the door on any Bobcat ideas for a fifth game by building a 17-5 advantage to start game four. Texas State never threatened, falling 30-14 to end the match.

Jones broke her career-high for kills that was set this past weekend while also coming up just one attack short of tying a career mark in that category. She finished with 19 kills and only four errors in 34 chances, good for a .441 hitting percentage.

Weigle added 16 kills with only two errors in 26 attacks, swinging .538 for the match. Irvin led the `Cats with 34 assists while Brittany Collins added 17, and Irvin also added a season-high 15 digs to record her third double-double in four matches. Two other Bobcats also finished with double-digit dig totals, with Lawrencia Brown netting 13 and Kacey Wimpy 11.

Texas A&M's Mary Batis led the Aggies with 13 kills and 10 digs while Sarah Ammerman and Kelsey Bryant had 12 and 10 kills respectively. Kristen Schevikhoven also had 41 assists as Texas A&M hit .309 for the match.

The Bobcats continue their four match home stand this weekend with the CenturyTel Premier, which will also feature Cal-State Fullerton, Houston and Missouri.