Volleyball | 11/19/2015 3:07:00 PM

SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Bobcats finished the regular season strong, winning the team's final five matches, the last of which was against South Alabama, Texas State's opening round opponent at the Sun Belt Conference Championship Tournament. With a win, the Bobcats will advance to face either No. 2 Appalachian State or No. 7 Troy on Saturday with the SBC Championship scheduled for Sunday at 12 p.m. CST / 1 p.m. EST.
 
The Bobcats are 57-56 all-time against this season's tournament field with most of those numbers coming from a 33-41 record against No. 4 UT Arlington. This season, Texas State went 7-3 against opponents in the tournament with the only three losses coming at No. 1 Arkansas State, at No. 2 Appalachian State and at No. 6 South Alabama. Texas State beat five of the seven other teams in the field in the last meeting.
 
SBC Championship Tournament Info:
Site: Hanner Fieldhouse – Statesboro, Ga.
Date: Friday, November 20 – Sunday, November 22
 
First Round: Texas State (18-11, 13-3 SBC) vs. South Alabama (13-14, 7-9 SBC)
Date and Time: Friday, November 20 – 1:30 p.m. CST / 2:30 p.m. EST
 
Second Round: vs. No. 2 Appalachian State (20-7, 13-3 SBC) or No. 7 Troy (14-17, 7-9 SBC)
Date and Time: Saturday, November 21 – 3 p.m. CST / 4 p.m. EST
 
Championship Round
Date and Time: Sunday, November 22 – 12 p.m. CST / 1 p.m. EST
 
The Series
Vs. South Alabama: 4-2
Last Meeting: W, 3-1 (11/13/15)
 
Texas State and South Alabama have split this season's series with both home teams winning. The Jaguars took the match in Mobile in five sets while the Bobcats took care of business in Strahan Coliseum in four. For the series, the Bobcats have a 4-2 advantage, but this will be the first time these teams have met in the Sun Belt Conference Championship Tournament.
 
In the last meeting, Texas State put down 11 blocks, led by Morgan Lewis and Jordan Kohl with six and five blocks respectively. Kohl also scored on 13 kills, but Shelby Vas Matt led the team with 15. Erin Hoppe gave out 32 assists while Emily Shelton chipped in 16. Sierra Smith tallied 20 digs while Vas Matt and Kelsey Weynand contributed 10 digs each.
 
On the Jaguars
Since beating Texas State in the first meeting, South Alabama went 1-5 to finish the regular season, dropping the last five in a row.
 
Mechell Daniel leads the team in kills with 385 while Nikki Gittens has 239. Three other players are in triple-digits, led by Sarah Richardson with 132. Emma Anderson has given out 828 assists, but Parker Harrell has stepped up in recent matches to add 167 assists on the season. Arissa Chappell leads the team in service aces with 33. Savannah Stewart has 22 aces, but the Jaguars have been outserved, 133-117.
 
Defensively, Emily Hundt has 438 digs to lead the team while Daniel has 268 in second. Chappell has 257 and Stewart has 248 digs. At the net, Gittens has 106 blocks on the year for an average of 0.99 blocks per set. Sarah Richardson has 103 blocks.
 
On the Bobcats
Texas State won the team's last five matches of the regular season while freshman Madison Daigle garnered consecutive SBC Freshman of the Week awards during that stretch.
 
The Bobcats have found success in the 6-2 rotation with Erin Hoppe and Emily Shelton giving out assists and running the offense. Jordan Kohl still leads the team in kills with 272, but the Bobcats are getting even contributions throughout the entire roster. Daigle and Morgan Lewis in the middle have 176 and 154 kills respectively while Shelby Vas Matt and Kelsey Weynand have 230 and 211 respectively. Daigle leads the team in hitting percentage at .311 but has hit an outstanding .348 against conference opponents.
 
Texas State has dominated in serve/receive against opponents this season with 147 service aces to just 74 for the team's opponents. Sierra Smith leads in digs with 352 while Vas Matt has 239. There are three others in triple digits and Alex Silver has 98. At the net, Lewis leads the way with 102 blocks and the next closest Bobcat is Daigle with 62 blocks, 43 against conference opponents.
 
A Look Ahead
The Bobcats are fighting this weekend for an opportunity to play in the NCAA Tournament. With a championship in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, the Bobcats would clinch a berth in the NCAA Tournament and would await hearing their fate at the NCAA announcement on Sunday, November 29.