Photo Credit: Kirk Florendo and Vicente Cardenas/The Paisano

The UTSA Roadrunners (7-5) fell to the Texas State Bobcats (10-5) three sets to two in front of a 661 rowdy fans who packed the Convocation Center on Friday night to witness the I-35 rivalry.

Trailing 2-1, UTSA had to win the fourth set in order to stay alive. In a nail-biting match, UTSA won by the largest margin of the night (25-16) forcing a fifth and final set.

The Roadrunners jumped out to an early 3-0 lead before the Bobcats came back and outscored UTSA 15-7 to take the final set (15-10) and the overall victory.

UTSA outside hitter McKenzie Adams, who recently won both the offensive and defensive Conference USA (C-USA) player of the week awards, had 29 kills to pace the Roadrunners. Adams is currently holding an attack percentage of .266.

Freshmen Dajana Boskivic added 13 kills and 15 digs for UTSA.

“We didn’t make any adjustments between the sets,” UTSA Head Coach Laura Groff said. “I just went over the girls’ strengths. We have to play confidently, that’s what makes us strong.”

The Roadrunners looked to be on a winning path as they won the first set (25-21). But the Bobcats came back strong taking sets two and three (25-22, 25-23) out from underneath UTSA.

UTSA out blocked Texas State 15-8 and had an 85-60 advantage on digs, winning the statistical battle but unable to get into the win column.

“There isn’t anything we can do about the loss tonight,” Groff said. “We need to find out why we mentally shut off and fix the mistakes.”

The UTSA Roadrunners are back at it on Tuesday, Sept. 24, as they take on the Baylor Bears at the Ferrell Center in Waco for a non-conference match.

On Friday, Sept. 27, UTSA will play the first C-USA game of the season against the Tulane Green Wave in New Orleans.