How to set value of dropdownlist by matching text to value from stored proc

I have a dropdownlist that I am trying to preselect the value of based on a value returned from a stored proc in the code behind page.  I've tried a few things but nothing is working.  I am populating the dropdownlist from a datasource in the aspx page and then trying to select the appropriate value in the Page_Load according to a value from a stored proc.  

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'error message which occurs in line 54

Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code.

Exception Details: System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.

Source Error:


Line 52:             email.Text = emailTxt
Line 53:             phone.Text = phoneTxt
Line 54:             statusId.Items.FindByText(statusTxt).Selected = True
Line 55:             comments.Text = commentsTxt
Line 56:
 
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'html code for dropdownlist

                                            <asp:DropDownList ID="statusId" runat="server" DataSourceID="SqlDataSource1" DataTextField="status" DataValueField="statusID">
                                            </asp:DropDownList>
                                            <asp:SqlDataSource ID="SqlDataSource1" runat="server" ConnectionString="<%$ ConnectionStrings:shcbariatricsConnectionString %>" SelectCommand="procLeadStatus" SelectCommandType="StoredProcedure"></asp:SqlDataSource>

-------------------------------------------------------------------
'relevant code-behind

        If Not (IsPostBack) Then

            Dim datetimeTxt As String = ""
            Dim sourceTxt As String = ""
            Dim referrerTxt As String = ""
            Dim firstnameTxt As String = ""
            Dim lastnameTxt As String = ""
            Dim emailTxt As String = ""
            Dim phoneTxt As String = ""
            Dim statusTxt As String = ""
            Dim commentsTxt As String = ""

            Dim leadId As Integer = Request.QueryString("eid")

            Dim objConn As SqlConnection
            Dim dataReader As SqlDataReader
            Dim strSql As String
            Dim ObjCmd As SqlCommand

            objConn = New SqlConnection(System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings("shcbariatricsConnectionString").ConnectionString)
            strSql = "EXECUTE procLeadDetails '" & leadId & "'"
            ObjCmd = New SqlCommand(strSql, objConn)

            objConn.Open()
            dataReader = ObjCmd.ExecuteReader

            If dataReader.Read() Then
                datetimeTxt = dataReader("dateof")
                sourceTxt = dataReader("sourceDescription")
                referrerTxt = dataReader("referrer")
                firstnameTxt = dataReader("firstname")
                lastnameTxt = dataReader("lastname")
                emailTxt = dataReader("email")
                phoneTxt = dataReader("phone1")
                statusTxt = dataReader("status")
                commentsTxt = dataReader("dateof")
            End If

            datetime.Text = datetimeTxt
            source.Text = sourceTxt
            referrer.Text = referrerTxt
            firstname.Text = firstnameTxt
            lastname.Text = lastnameTxt
            email.Text = emailTxt
            phone.Text = phoneTxt
            statusId.Items.FindByText(statusTxt).Selected = True
            comments.Text = commentsTxt

        End If
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