Volleyball | 10/24/2016 4:39:00 PM

SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State volleyball team is set to return home for the final three contests of the year. First up will be a rematch with UT Arlington at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 25 inside Strahan Coliseum. Texas State defeated UTA 3-1 on Oct. 13 in Arlington.
 
Match Info: at UT Arlington (11-13, 5-4 SBC) at Texas State (15-9, 8-1 SBC)
Site: Strahan Coliseum – San Marcos, Texas
Date: Tuesday, October 25 – 6:30 pm
The Series: UT Arlington leads 41-34
Last Meeting: TXST def. UTA 3-1 (10/13/16)

THE LAST TIME OUT
The Bobcats swept Georgia Southern 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-18) on Oct. 22 in Statesboro, Georgia. The victory was the sixth in a row for the Bobcats, who are now 4-0 all-time against the Eagles. Senior Kelsey Weynand finished with a match-high 15 kills on a .370 hitting percentage, while junior Jaliyah Bolden and freshman Megan Porter added 10 each. Junior Erin Hoppe ran the offense with 39 assists, and freshman Micah Dinwiddie commanded the backline with 22 digs. No member of the home team posted double-digit kills, but Cathrine Murray tallied nine. Katie Bange distributed 24 assists, while Alex Beecher had 20 digs and Joscelin Morrow added 10 digs. The Bobcats led the evening in kills (47-32), attack percentage (.278-.133), digs (54-45) and blocks (6-4).
 
WHERE THEY STAND
With the Sun Belt Conference ballooning to 12 teams, the league has moved to a two-division format for the 2016 season. The Bobcats are members of the West Division, along with Arkansas State, UT Arlington, Little Rock, UL Lafayette and UL Monroe. The league will crown two division champions at the end of the regular season, and those two sides will claim the top two seeds in the Sun Belt Conference Championship, which will be held Nov. 18-20 at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas.
 
Coastal Carolina (8-1) leads the way in the East Division, while A-State (9-1) is atop the West Division with three weeks remaining in the regular season schedule. TXST (8-1) sits a half game behind the Red Wolves in the West and are three games ahead of UT Arlington (5-4). The top four finishers from both divisions will qualify for the postseason tournament.
 
JUNIOR, FRESHMAN CAPTURE SBC WEEKLY ACCOLADES
Junior Erin Hoppe was honored as the SBC Setter of the Week, while libero Micah Dinwiddie was tabbed the SBC Freshman of the Week, the Sun Belt Conference announced on Oct. 24. Hoppe registered 84 total assists to lead the Bobcats to road triumphs over Georgia State and Georgia Southern. In eight sets played, she distributed 10.50 assists per set, which included 13 per set in a sweep over the Eagles. She compiled 45 assists, six digs and one kill against the Panthers before tallying 39 assists, five digs and two kills against GS. Dinwiddie led the defense in the two victories. She totaled 43 digs overall (5.38 digs per set), which included 23 at 7.67 digs per set in the Bobcats' sweep over Georgia Southern. She continues to lead all Sun Belt freshmen in digs during league play and is second overall in the conference in that category this season. This is the third straight week that Texas State volleyball has won at least two player of the week honors. TXST has also brought home each of the last three freshman of the week accolades.
 
DINWIDDIE MAKES HISTORY WITH FIRST 2 WEEKLY ACCOLADES
Micah Dinwiddie was honored as both the Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player and Freshman of the Week on Oct. 17. The true freshman from Lewisville, Texas, earned the first two weekly accolades of her young career after a dominant performance in Texas State's 3-1 win at UT Arlington Oct. 13. She registered a career-high 31 digs against the Mavericks, which was the highest total of digs in a four-set match by a Bobcat since Kacey Wimpy tallied 32 against Sam Houston State on Nov. 9, 2007. The 31 digs were also the highest four-set total registered by a Sun Belt Conference player this season. Dinwiddie averaged 7.75 digs per set, while also adding three assists and one service ace. This was the first time since the conference went to a four-award weekly system that a freshman was honored as the SBC defensive player of the week.