Volleyball | 9/10/2015 5:10:00 PM

SAN MARCOS, Texas – Texas State heads to Wichita, Kansas, for the first time in the volleyball team's history to face off against South Dakota State, Northern Illinois and Wichita State. The Bobcats are part of a field that includes No. 7 Illinois and No. 21 Kentucky. For fans with access, the Bobcats will be on ESPN3 for their match against Wichita State at 1 p.m. Saturday.
 
Match Info: Shocker Volleyball Classic
Site: Charles Koch Arena – Wichita, Kansas
Date: Friday, September 11 – Saturday, September 12
Times:
Friday
vs. South Dakota State – 11 a.m.
vs. Northern Illinois – 5:30 p.m.
 
Saturday
at Wichita State – 1 p.m.
 
The Series
Wichita State is the only team the Bobcats have faced before. The Shockers have a 2-0 edge in the all-time series against Texas State, with the Bobcats dropping a five-setter to Wichita State last season to open the Delta Zeta Classic.
 
In that match, Lauren Kirch led the team in kills with 17 and just four errors on 39 attempts for a .333 hitting percentage. Alexandra Simms had 14 kills while Shelby Vas Matt added 11. Two other Bobcats tallied nine kills in the match. The setters combined for 62 assists while Sierra Smith tallied 27 digs. Vas Matt added 24, and Keeley Davis had 10. The Bobcats put down 14 blocks in the match.
 
On the Jackrabbits
South Dakota State has jumped out to a rough start, going 1-8 to start the season under new head coach Nicole Cirillo. The Jackrabbits have a five-set win against Columbia, but has dropped all of its other matches in sweeps except for a five-set loss to Northeastern.
 
The top offensive threats for SDSU will be Nazya Thies (61 kills), Mikala Hora (60 kills) and Ashley Beaner (54 kills). Setters Mattison Munger (131 assists) and Brooke Leetham (89 assists) run the offense. They are combining for just over 10 assists per set.
 
Defensively, Lizzie Palmer leads the squad in digs with 101 while Hora has added 84. At the net, Kacey Herrmann leads the charge with 17 blocks while both Wagner Larson and Leetham have 10 blocks each.
 
On the Huskies
Northern Illinois has started off at .500 with three wins and three losses, two of those losses coming in the last two matches. The Huskies fell in consecutive sets to No. 22 Ohio State and No. 14 Florida State with a loss to Pacific in four. Northern Illinois began the season with a sweep of South Dakota State and picked up four-set wins against Iowa and Milwaukee.
 
The top offensive players for NIU are Mary Grace Kelly with 70 kills at 3.33 kills per set and T'ara Austin at 68 kills (3.24 kills per set). No other Husky has more than 49 kills so far. Alexis Gonzalez has given out 129 assists while Chandler Kinley has 63 assists on the year.
 
Defensively, Anna Brereton has 64 digs to lead the team while Kelly and Austin have combined for 75 digs. Jenna Radtke has 28 blocks, and Meg Wolowicz has put down 20 on the year. Lauren Zielinski has contributed 19 blocks.
 
On the Shockers
Like Northern Illinois, Wichita State has started out 3-3 with wins over Oregon State, Idaho and Abilene Christian and losses to No. 18 Hawaii, New Mexico State and Texas A&M.
 
Abbie Lehman leads the squad with 68 kills while Jody Larson has 49 on the year and Shimen Fayad has added 44 kills. Emily Hiebert is the undisputed setter for the squad with 216 assists at 10.29 assists per set.
 
Dani Mostrom has 95 digs for a 4.52 dig per set average and no other Shocker has more than Larson's 54 digs. Lehman leads the team in blocks by far with 24 while Katie Reilly, Katy Dudzinski and Larson have combined for 31 blocks.
 
On the Bobcats
Texas State rebounded from a tough opening weekend to go 3-1 in the Delta Zeta Classic in San Marcos. The Bobcats beat UTSA in a five-set thriller to get started on the right foot and set records for hitting percentage the next day in a sweep of Prairie View A&M. Texas State followed that with another sweep of Lamar before falling to Big Ten opponent Indiana in five to close out the tournament. After that, Texas State dropped one to No. 12 Oregon.
 
This weekend, the Bobcats will be looking to get tune up before the rapidly approaching Sun Belt Conference season gets here.
 
Leading Texas State into the weekend will be Jordan Kohl with her team-high 59 kills. Not far behind is Kelsey Weynand with 53 and Jaliyah Bolden with 51 kills. Bobcat setters have split time, but, so far, Erin Hoppe has the edge with 123 assists to Emily Shelton's 107. Hoppe has added nine service aces to lead the Bobcats. Both Shelby Vas Matt and Bolden have six each.
 
Defensively, senior stalwart Sierra Smith leads the squad in digs with 79. Weynand has added 77 to nearly average 3.00 digs per set while Vas Matt has 51 on the season. At the net, Bolden leads the Bobcats by 10 with 29 blocks. Morgan Lewis is next with 19 blocks on the year while Weynand and Kohl are also in double digits.
 
A Look Ahead
Upon return to Texas, the Bobcats will take on Sam Houston State at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday before welcoming Georgia State and UL Lafayette to San Marcos to open the conference season.