Volleyball | 11/9/2016 8:41:00 AM

SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State volleyball team will head to Louisiana to close out the regular season this weekend, beginning with a 6:30 p.m. contest Nov. 11 against ULM in Monroe, Louisiana. The Bobcats will then close out the campaign against Louisiana at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 12 in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Texas State has already clinched the No. 3 seed in the upcoming SBC Championship, while ULM has been eliminated from postseason consideration and ULL could qualify for the postseason with two wins this weekend and a loss from Little Rock. TXST earned a pair of narrow victories over the Warhawks (3-1) and Ragin' Cajuns (3-2) two weeks ago, and the maroon and gold owns a combined 51-2 all-time record over the two programs.

Match 1 Info: Texas State (18-11, 11-3 SBC) at UL Monroe (9-23, 3-11 SBC)
Site: Fant-Ewing Coliseum – Monroe, La.
Date: Friday, November 11 – 6:30 pm
The Series: Texas State leads 12-0
Last Meeting: TXST def. ULM 3-1 (10/29/16)

Match 2 Info: Texas State (18-11, 11-3 SBC) at UL Lafayette (10-19, 6-8 SBC)
Site: Earl K. Long Gym – Lafayette, La.
Date: Saturday, November 12 – 6:30 pm
The Series: Texas State leads 39-2
Last Meeting: TXST def. ULL 3-2 (10/28/16)

THE LAST TIME OUT
The Bobcats fell 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-12) to Arkansas State this past Saturday night inside Convocation Center. The loss clinched the No. 3 seed for the Bobcats (18-11, 11-3 SBC) in the Sun Belt Conference Championship, which will be contested Nov. 18-20 in Arlington, Texas. The Red Wolves (22-7, 14-1 SBC) won their 10th match in a row and have not lost since falling to Texas State on Oct. 7 in San Marcos. Junior Erin Hoppe paced the Bobcat offense with 27 assists, while freshman Micah Dinwiddie added 13 digs. Senior Kelsey Weynand added 11 digs, and freshman Megan Porter led Texas State with eight kills. Jessica Uke led all players with 10 kills on a .714 attack percentage. Mallory Warrington posted 35 assists and 20 digs, while Markie Schaedig finished with 13 digs.
 
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 (13-1) has locked up the East Division, while A-State (14-1) has clinched the West Division entering the final week of the regular season. TXST (11-3) will be the No. 3 seed and will face any of a group of four teams that still could clinch the No. 6 seed (South Alabama, Georgia State, Louisiana, Georgia Southern). The top four finishers from both divisions will qualify for the postseason tournament.
 
FRESHMAN MAINTAINS STRANGLEHOLD ON WEEKLY LAUREL
Micah Dinwiddie was named the Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Week for the fourth week in a row, the league announced Nov. 8. The Lewisville, Texas, native, tallied 37 digs over the week at 5.29 digs per set. She got her weekend started with a 24-dig performance at 6.00 digs per set against Little Rock. She then registered 13 digs against Arkansas State at 4.33 digs per set. She also added four assists and one ace as the Bobcats clinched the No. 3 seed in the SBC Championship. Overall, Texas State has already captured 11 SBC weekly awards this season. The Bobcats entered 2016 with nine total weekly awards in their first three years in the league (2013-15). This is the also the fifth-straight week that Texas State volleyball has won a player of the week honor. TXST has collected each of the last five freshman of the week accolades. Award winners include: Senior Kelsey Weynand (Offensive, Oct. 10), senior Lauren Kirch (Defensive, Sept. 5), junior Erin Hoppe (Setter, Oct. 10 & Oct. 24), freshman Megan Porter (Freshman, Oct. 10) and Dinwiddie (Defensive, Oct. 17 & Oct. 31 / Freshman, Oct. 17, Oct. 24, Oct. 31, Nov. 7).
 
TEXAS STATE MAKES CHARITABLE DONATION TO PINK HEALS HAYS COUNTY
The Texas State volleyball team recently held a fundraising event for Pink Heals Hays County in an effort to help raise money for the organization. In conjunction with their Sept. 30 home match against Coastal Carolina, the Bobcats took donations and held a silent auction as part of their annual Pink Out contest to help promote cancer awareness. In total, Texas State volleyball raised $7,788 for the local organization. The Bobcats presented Pink Heals with the donation during the Oct. 25 match against UT Arlington. "We are so honored and grateful to be able to give Pink Heals almost $7,800 this year," TXST associate head coach Tracy Smith said. "Our fans and supporters stepped up in a big way Sept. 30 with their donations. Pink Heals helps women in Hays County with cancer, and we know the proceeds go directly to those in need in our community. We want to thank Chris and Kathleen Chomel for working with us every year to make the event possible. We would also like to thank all the Pink Heals volunteers for all they do." The mission of Pink Heals Hays County, as found on their website, is "Inspiring our communities to come together for the love of their people and not one specific disease or cause. By putting our women and their family first we all have to come to the table in support! Then guarantee that all the money raised from our initiative stays local. We focus on our tax based groups first because without the support of our community (their taxes and votes) we wouldn't have our jobs!!!!" Pink Heals Hays County is a chapter of the National Pink Heals Tour and has donated more than $107,000 since 2012 to assist families in their battle against cancer. For more information, visit www.pinkhealshayscounty.org.
 
DINWIDDIE MAKES HISTORY WITH FIRST 2 WEEKLY AWARDS
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 in 2016 at the time. Dinwiddie averaged 7.75 digs per set, while also adding three assists and one service ace. This was the first time since 2012 that a freshman was honored as the SBC defensive player of the week.