SAN ANTONIO -- Freshman Kenedi Rutherford had a career performance but a tight second-set went to Texas State, as the Bobcats posted a three-set win (22-25, 29-31, 25-22)over UTSA volleyball, in the home opener for the Roadrunners on Tuesday night at the Convocation Center.
UTSA (7-3) opened its home schedule in front of a rowdy crowd at the Convocation Center. Texas State (6-5) held off a furious charge from UTSA in the second set to win 31-29 and was able to finish off the Roadrunners for the three-set win.
A native of Houston, Rutherford made her first career start and turned in a strong outing. She had 17 total kills, including eight in the first set, which eclipsed her career total. Freshman Hannah Lopez had 11 kills and seven digs, with junior Kara Teal adding eight kills and a block. Sophomore Hannah Froeschl had five kills, with senior Amanda Gonzales owning 22 assists and Mia Perales charting a 22-assist match. Senior Shelby Williams had a team-best 10 digs.
UTSA will return to action on Friday at 12 p.m. CT, playing host to Baylor in the opener of the UTSA Invitational presented by Courtyard Marriot at The Rim.
👀 some highlights from last night! #BirdsUp pic.twitter.com/rKFp6BlNbW
— UTSA Volleyball (@UTSAvolleyball) September 12, 2018
The Bobcats raced out of the gate with the first three points and five of the first six, with Teal getting UTSA on the board. Consecutive points, finishing in a Rutherford kill brought UTSA to within 8-6 and the 19th ace of the year from Williams cut the lead to 9-7. Froeschl's kill kept UTSA down 10-8, but the Bobcats notched three straight points to take a 15-11 lead before a kill from Rutherford, her fourth. Down 17-12, UTSA spent its first timeout, with Madeline McKay smashing her first kill out of the break. Froeschl and Lopez earned kills to cut the lead to 19-15 and after the fifth kill of the set from Rutherford, Texas State used a timeout, leading, 20-18. A pair of points from Rutherford saw UTSA cut the lead to 21-19 but TXST took a 24-21 lead to force a UTSA timeout. Texas State finished off the win at 25-22.
Texas State opened the second set strong with six of the first seven points before UTSA used its first timeout of the set. After falling behind 10-3, UTSA earned seven of the next nine points, including big kills from Froeschl and Teal to cut the lead to 12-10. Consecutive points allowed the Roadrunners to even up the set at 13-13 and the second Lopez ace of the sequence led to a 14-13 lead, UTSA's first of the match. After a Texas State timeout, UTSA added to its lead behind Lopez, with Teal's kill giving UTSA a 16-13 lead. Three consecutive points from Texas State evened the match at 16-16 and UTSA regained the lead at 17-16. Rutherford and Froeschl had kills as UTSA took a 21-19 lead but Texas State rallied to earn a 22-21 lead. The teams continued to slug it out, trading points with ties at 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 and 29. Consecutive points for Texas State led to a 31-29 win.
After the Roadrunners opened the third set with the first two points, Texas State answered with five consecutive points. UTSA stayed within four at 15-11 and three straight, including a monster kill from McKay, cut the lead to 15-13. A 4-0 Texas State run extended the lead to 19-13 and forced a UTSA timeout. After falling behind 20-15, UTSA earned four straight, including a kill from Lopez, with TXST taking its first timeout of the set.
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