Game Notes

SAN MARCOS, Texas – After a hot 5-0 start, Texas State will be looking for its first 6-0 start since 1982 and more at the North Texas Invitational this weekend. The Bobcats will open the tournament against former Southland Conference foe Northwestern State at 10 a.m. Friday, and then play what may be Texas State's toughest competition to date in Utah at 2:30 p.m. Prairie View A&M will be Texas State's next opponent at 9 a.m. Saturday followed by a match against host team North Texas at 7:30 p.m.
 
This weekend Texas State will face a combination of familiar foes and fairly new opponents. Texas State is a combined 63-6-2 against Northwestern State and North Texas while the Bobcats have only faced Prairie View A&M and Utah a combined seven times.
 
Against Prairie View A&M, however, the Bobcats have swept the five matches in which the teams have faced each other. The most recent meeting was a Texas State sweep on Sept. 7, 2010 in Strahan Coliseum. Utah is another story. The Utes won both matches the teams played, including the most recent one in Utah, a 3-1 loss Sept. 13, 1997.
 
Texas State will be looking to improve its impressive records in the bookend matches of the tournament, standing at 37-2 against Northwestern State and 26-4-2 against North Texas. The Bobcats won the last meetings with both teams, playing both of them in 2011.
 
The Bobcats will have the hot arm of Amari Deardorff on their side. Deardorff was named the Sun Belt Conference's Offensive Player of the Week for her impressive Most Valuable Player performance throughout the opening weekend's Delta Zeta Classic. She followed that up with a .500 hitting percentage and 11 kills in the team's first road match of the season, a 3-0 sweep against Sam Houston State on Tuesday.
 
Texas State has been efficient on the offensive side of the net so far this season, hitting for .327 as a team. That mark will be the highest hitting percentage any team takes into the North Texas Invitational this weekend. If the Bobcats leave with the highest hitting percentage, they might also be bringing back four more wins.
 
Fans will be able to follow along with all of the action via live audio at www.txstatebobcats.com/radio. There will also be twitter updates at Texas State Volleyball's twitter account: @TexasStateVball, and fans can also follow online through live stats here.
 
Tournament Info
North Texas Invitational: Texas State, Northwestern State, Utah, Prairie View A&M, North Texas

Site: North Texas Volleyball Center – Denton, Texas
Date: Friday, Sept. 6 – Saturday, Sept. 7
Schedule: 10 a.m. Friday vs. Northwestern State; 2:30 p.m. Friday vs. Utah; 9 a.m. Saturday vs. Prairie View A&M; 7:30 p.m. Saturday vs. North Texas

Live Coverage
Radio: www.txstatebobcats.com/radio
Live Stats: www.meangreensports.com/scoreboard/?sport=w-volley
                          
Complete Game Notes