Volleyball | 10/15/2014 3:57:00 PM

SAN MARCOS – This week Texas State will travel to Atlanta to face Georgia State for the first time this season then return home to host Arkansas State in the second meeting between the two teams.
 
Match 1 Info: Texas State (13-8, 8-1 SBC) at Georgia State (4-14, 2-7 SBC)
Site: GSU Sports Arena – Atlanta, Ga.
Date: Friday, October 17 – 5 p.m. CST / 6 p.m. EST
 
Match 2 Info: Texas State (13-8, 8-1 SBC) vs. Arkansas State (11-6, 6-2 SBC)
Site: Strahan Coliseum – San Marcos, Texas
Date: Sunday, October 19 – 12 p.m.
 
The Series
The Bobcats have only met Georgia State four times and, so far, Texas State has taken the reigns in the all-time series with a 3-1 advantage. Both teams played in 1994 and 2007 then twice last season as part of the Sun Belt Conference schedule. Texas State won both matches last year, including a 3-0 sweep in Atlanta last season.
 
In the last meeting, a 3-1 victory for Texas State in Strahan Coliseum, Amari Deardorff led the Bobcats in kills with 15. Shelby Vas Matt added 11 while Ashlee Hilbun put down 10. Caylin Mahoney gave out 36 assists with eight kills and 18 digs while Sierra Smith also doubled up with 16 digs and 12 assists. Vas Matt and Kelsey Weynand combined for 26 digs. The Bobcats also tallied nine blocks and hit .256 as a team compared to .126 for Georgia State.
 
As for Arkansas State, the Bobcats stand at 3-6 in the all-time series. Texas State dropped two matches to the Red Wolves last season, but beat ASU in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament when it counted most. This season, the Bobcats swept the Red Wolves in Arkansas to become one of just two teams in the Sun Belt who have beat ASU this season.
 
In the only meeting between the two teams this season, Weynand led Texas State with 15 kills while Vas Matt added 12. Jordan Kohl, Amanda Watkins and Lauren Kirch combined for 17 kills. Ali Gonzales gave out 24 assists while Jordan Moore gave 18. Vas Matt and Weynand both doubled up with 14 and 15 digs respectively. Smith led the team, though, with 16.
 
On the Panthers
Georgia State enters this weekend's match after a two-match losing streak on the road to the first and third place teams in the Sun Belt: UALR and Arkansas State. Both matches were quick sweeps, but before that the Panther beat Georgia Southern. That win came after a four-match losing streak.
 
The Panthers, at 2-7 in the Sun Belt, sit ninth in the SBC standings in front of just UL Monroe and Troy.
 
The Bobcats will have to be aware of Deidra Bohannon (231 kills, 3.79 per set) and Eliza Zachary (202 kills, 3.16 per set). Kitan Ajanaku is the only other Panther with more than 100 kills and she has 105. Zachary is doing it at an efficient rate, averaging a .333 hitting percentage. Meanwhile, Natalia Nieto leads the team in assists with 544 on the season, an average of 8.50 per set. Gabby Serafin leads the team in digs with 199, but three others have 100 or more digs for the squad. The GSU block so far has put down 19 less blocks than opponents and the Panthers have 28 less aces than opponents.
 
On the Red Wolves
Arkansas State enters the weekend after a 3-0 loss to UALR, the current SBC leader. Before that, however, ASU had won six consecutive matches and 10 of the team's last 11. The last loss the Red Wolves suffered before UALR was to the Bobcats on September 19.
 
The Red Wolves will be plenty motivated for this match after falling to Texas State in a sweep at home, but ASU also sits third in the Sun Belt just behind Texas State.
 
Sarah Kemp leads the team in kills with 221, 3.81 per set and no other player has more than 151 kills. That player is Drew Jones though, who won SBC Freshman of the Week twice this season. Another conference player of the week winner for Arkansas State is Markie Schaedig, who has twice won SBC Defensive Player of the Week. She is averaging 5.98 digs per set and has 359 on the season to lead the conference.
 
Mallory Warrington runs the offense and has given out 623 assists this season at a rate of 10.3 per set, but she also manages to sneak in 1.02 kills per set. She also leads the team in aces with 22 while Kelsey Reis has 19. For the season, ASU has outserved opponents 79-46 in aces. The Red Wolves have also outblocked opponents, 102-89.5.
 
On the Bobcats
After getting bucked by UT Arlington last week, Texas State jumped right back on the horse with consecutive sweeps of Appalachian State and UL Monroe in San Marcos. The Bobcats have put together a pretty impressive offensive attack, leading the country in attacks per set and sitting third in team kills and team assists.
 
The secret has been a balanced offensive attack. The Bobcats can boast seven different players who have put up double-digit kills in at least three matches this season. In fact, while Shelby Vas Matt leads the team in kills on the season and Lauren Kirch sits second, it has been Kelsey Weynand who has led the team throughout the conference season with 103 kills in the last nine matches for an average of 3.22 kills per set.
 
Sierra Smith continues to clean up the back line with a team-high 373 digs (4.60 digs per set), but she has received help from Brenna Lyles who has added 34 digs in the last three matches.
 
Meanwhile, Jordan Moore has taken over as setter and turned in two impressive performances the last two matches with five kills, an ace, 18 digs, three blocks and 71 assists.
 
A Look Ahead
After Arkansas State, the Bobcats will finally face conference leader UALR. The first meeting of the season between the top two teams in the conference will take place in Arkansas Thursday, Oct. 23 at 7 p.m., and then Texas State will return home to host Georgia Southern at 7 p.m. the following Saturday.