Volleyball | 9/24/2014 1:25:00 PM

SAN MARCOS – Bobcat Volleyball is off to a 3-0 start in the Sun Belt Conference and is one of four teams in the league to start conference play undefeated. Thursday Texas State will host South Alabama, another undefeated team in the SBC at 2-0, and then travel to face Troy on Saturday.
 
Match 1 Info: Texas State (8-7, 3-0 SBC) vs. South Alabama (7-5, 2-0 SBC)
Site: Strahan Coliseum – San Marcos, Texas
Date: Thursday, September 25 – 6:30 p.m.
 
Match 2 Info: Texas State (8-7, 3-0 SBC) at Troy (9-6, 1-2 SBC)
Site: Trojan Arena – Troy, Ala.
Date: Saturday, September 27 – 7 p.m.
 
The Series
Texas State does not have a long standing series with either team the Bobcats will face this week. Last season, Texas State saw South Alabama for the first two matches ever between the teams. The two teams pleased fans with two five-set matches with the home team winning each time. South Alabama was one of just three conference foes the Bobcats split with last season and one of just two to do it in five sets in both matches.
 
The last time Texas State saw South Alabama was in Mobile, Ala., where Amari Deardorff led the team with 17 kills on a .326 percentage while Ashlee Hilbun added 10 kills. The standout, however, was current senior Alexandra Simms who finished with 15 kills on an eye-popping .448 hitting percentage. Sierra Smith tallied 26 digs while Shelby Vas Matt, Kelsey Weynand and Caylin Mahoney combined for 33 digs. Mahoney gave out 44 assists, but it wasn't enough as Jessica Lewis and Mechell Daniel led USA to victory over the Bobcats.
 
Against Troy, Texas State has only played three matches in the team's history. The first was a 3-1 victory in 1997, and the other two came last season, both 3-1 victories.
 
Current sophomore Weynand tallied 12 kills, tying for the team lead with Deardorff, in the most recent meeting against Troy. Weynand doubled up with 17 digs for one of two double-doubles last season. Smith added 21 digs while Ali Gonzales totaled 17. Mahoney and Vas Matt combined for 24 digs while Mahoney gave out 32 assists with eight kills.
 
On the Jaguars
South Alabama has two consecutive wins to start conference play coming into Thursday night's match. One was a five-set victory over UL Lafayette on the road while the other was a quick sweep of Georgia State in Mobile. Before conference, however, South Alabama sat at .500 with a 5-5 record.
 
The sophomore duo of Daniel and Lewis again are leading the Jaguars. The two have combined for 269 kills so far this season with Daniel averaging 3.33 kills per set. Daniel is a threat to double-double with 101 digs (2.53 digs per set) this year as well. No hitter for South Alabama is averaging a better percentage than Nikki Gittens' .251.
 
Emily Hundt leads the offense with 327 assists (7.79 per set), but Emma Anderson has given out 113 assists (3.77 per set). Libero Abby Baker leads the squad in digs with 169 but Daniel's 101 are second on the team.
 
The top blocker for South Alabama is Symone Stephenson with 29 on the season, one of which was solo. Not far behind is Gitten with 28 blocks, four solo.
 
On the Trojans
Troy enters the weekend having lost two matches in a row and five of the team's last six. The Trojans will face Arkansas State Friday night before the Bobcats see Troy on Saturday. Before Troy's five losses in six matches, the Trojans had won five in a row and eight of the team's first nine matches of the season.
 
Offensively, Blair Winston leads the team in kills with 174 while Symone Shaw has 149. The most efficient offensive player so far for Troy has been Kiah Cheatham with a .270 hitting percentage. She is also second on the team in blocks with 47, four solo. Darby Griff leads the team with 50 blocks, six solo.
 
Tineille Waggoner has 486 assists on the season, averaging 9.53 assists per set, as the primary setter for the team. Four Trojans have double-digit aces on the season with Ali Dowdall at nine for the year. Dowdall leads the team in digs with 240. The closes Trojan after her is Marija Zelenovic with 103.
 
On the Bobcats
The Bobcats are riding high headed into the weekend having won three consecutive matches to start Sun Belt Conference play, two of which were on the road. Shelby Vas Matt continues to lead the team in kills with 188 and is second on the team in digs with 205. The sophomore has 13 double-doubles for the season.
 
She joins with Kelsey Weynand for a sophomore duo that rivals that of South Alabama's. Weynand has five double-doubles on the year with 140 kills, averaging 2.80 kills per set. Lauren Kirch, freshman middle blocker, is second on the team in kills with 168 and leads the squad in blocks with 38.
 
Freshman Jordan Kohl is coming on strong though with 34 kills in her last three matches, including a 15-kill, .393 hitting percentage performance against UT Arlington to start conference play.
 
In the 6-2 rotation Texas State runs, Ali Gonzales has become the primary setter with 24 assists or more in the last four matches and in seven of the last eight. For the season she has 296 assists, but Jordan Moore leads the team with 433 on the year.
 
Sierra Smith continues to rule the back line with a team-high 278 digs and even double-doubled in her last match with 10 assists and 22 digs. She is almost to 20 aces on the season with a team-leading 18. Vas Matt has tallied 16 aces so far with a combined 32 from Kirch, Weynand and Alexandra Simms.

 


A Look Ahead
The Bobcats will finally get a chance to stick around San Marcos for a little bit after the team's road match against Troy. Texas State won't have another match until Saturday, Oct. 4, when the team hosts UL Lafayette. On Oct. 8, the Bobcats head up I-35 to face UT Arlington before returning home to host Appalachian State and UL Monroe.