Volleyball | 10/14/2015 12:50:00 PM

SAN MARCOS, Texas – Texas State takes to the road for what could be the team's most important road trip of the season. The Bobcats will start with a match at UT Arlington after taking down the Mavericks in San Marcos in five, then head to Jonesboro, Ark., to face the Sun Belt Conference-leading Arkansas State Red Wolves.
 
Match 1 Info: Texas State (11-9, 6-1 SBC) at UT Arlington (13-7, 4-4 SBC)
Site: College Park Center – Arlington, Texas
Date: Thursday, October 15 – 6:30 p.m.
 
Match 2 Info: Texas State (11-9, 6-1 SBC) at Arkansas State (17-1, 8-0 SBC)
Site: Convocation Center – Jonesboro, Ark.
Date: Saturday, October 17 – 6 p.m.
 
The Series
Vs. UT Arlington: 32-41
Last Meeting: W, 3-2 (10/6/15)
 
While UT Arlington has the advantage in the all-time series against the Bobcats, Texas State has won four of the last five matches and 13 of the last 16 dating back to 2008, including the last match played just last week. The Bobcats prevailed in a five-set victory, but UTA made it a hard-fought match after Texas State went up 2-0 to push the match into the fifth set.
 
Nonetheless, Texas State came out on top while a number of Bobcats achieved career highs. Both Jordan Kohl and Kelsey Weynand set career marks in kills with 24 and 22 respectively while Erin Hoppe gave out her best, 62 assists. Alex Silver, meanwhile, tallied a career-high 24 digs playing libero for the Bobcats.
 
Texas State outserved UTA, 7-1, in aces with five from Hoppe, but the Mavericks outblocked Texas State, 15-6. The Bobcats, however, finished with 14 more kills than UTA and 17 more assists. Morgan Lewis and Lauren Kirch added three blocks apiece.
 
Vs. Arkansas State: 5-6
Last Meeting: W, 3-1 (11/28/14)
 
The Red Wolves have the slight edge in the all-time series against Texas State, but the Bobcats have won the last four meetings which includes a three-match sweep in 2014.
 
In last year's Sun Belt Conference Championship Tournament, the Bobcats beat Arkansas State, 3-1 (25-18, 30-28, 20-25, 25-22) in the last meeting between the teams. Jordan Kohl as a freshman put down 20 kills and Alexandra Simms followed up with 18 kills. Shelby Vas Matt added 10 more kills. Meanwhile, Caylin Mahoney gave out 53 assists while three separate Bobcats finished with 21 kills or more. Sierra Smith led the team with 22 digs and Brenna Lyles added 19.
 
On the Mavericks
UT Arlington stood at 4-2 in the Sun Belt Conference before coming to San Marcos. Since then, though, the Mavericks dropped matches to the Bobcats and at Appalachian State to drop to .500 in conference play. With those two losses, the Mavericks have won just two of their last six matches.
 
The Mavs are led by Qiana Canete with 254 kills and Stacey Koch has 244. After that duo, the next Mavericks is Zhanelle Geathers with 131 kills. Geathers is second on the team in blocks with 74 while Marisah Ingram leads the team with 80 blocks. Casssidy Wheeler runs the offense with 733 assists and leads the squad in aces with 23. On the back end, Caitlyn Cooney leads in digs with 291 while Canete has 227.
 
On the Red Wolves
Arkansas State currently leads the Sun Belt Conference and is one of two undefeated teams in league play. The Red Wolves have not lost since a five-set match against Missouri on Sept. 5. They stand at 17-1 overall and 8-0 in conference play and are receiving votes in the American Volleyball Coaches' Association's weekly poll.
 
Carlisa May leads the team in kills with 216 but Drew Jones is not far behind with 214. They are averaging 3.60 and 3.34 kills per set respectively. Darby Graff is next with 199 kills while Kelsey Reis has 105. No other Red Wolf has more kills than setter Mallory Warrington's 57. Warrington has given out 727 assists for an average of 11.36 assists per set.
 
Jones leads the team in aces with 21 while Warrington has 16. Reis and Hannah Robey have combined for 23 aces. Arkansas State has 32 more aces than their opponents. On the back end, Markie Schaedig has 327 digs, and Warrington is second on the team with 187. At the net, Reis leads the team with 72 blocks. Nobody else has more than Graff's 45 blocks.
 
On the Bobcats
Texas State had won three consecutive matches and seven of the team's last eight before facing Baylor last Friday. The Bears put the Bobcats down, 3-0, but Texas State will be looking to bounce back this week in the important road swing.
 
Jordan Kohl, as she has all year, leads the team in kills with 200. Shelby Vas Matt is second with 140 kills while Morgan Lewis and Kelsey Weynand round out the top four with 119 and 117 kills respectively. The Bobcats, however, are getting contributions from middle blockers Madison Daigle and Lauren Kirch.
 
Erin Hoppe orchestrates the offense and has given out 508 assists this season. She gave out a career-high 62 assists last time she face off against UTA and she leads the team in aces with 30. Thanks to her work and others, the Bobcats have 49 more aces than opponents and are averaging 1.44 service aces per set.
 
Lewis leads the team in blocking with 70 while no other Bobcat has more than Vas Matt's 39. Sierra Smith continues to lead the team in digs with 249 despite missing the last two matches. Alex Silver stepped in as her replacement and set a new career best with 24 digs against UTA. Brenna Lyles also saw time as libero in her first appearance of the season at Baylor, tallying six digs in a single set.
 
A Look Ahead
This week's matches are the second and third in the middle of a five-game road swing for Texas State. After the Red Wolves, the Bobcats will travel to Troy and South Alabama before returning home to host UL Monroe and Troy.