Volleyball | 8/25/2016 8:52:00 PM
SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State volleyball team opens its 2016 season this weekend when the Bobcats compete in the two-day North Texas Challenge on Friday and Saturday at the Mean Green Volleyball Center in Denton, Texas. The Bobcats will be tested early in the tournament when they play No. 15-ranked Ohio State at 12:30 p.m. on Friday. Texas State plays a pair of matches on Saturday when the Bobcats meet the host team, North Texas, at 11 a.m. and Nevada at 4 p.m.
NORTH TEXAS CHALLENGE SCHEDULE
Friday, August 26
10:30 a.m. North Texas vs. Nevada
12:30 p.m. #15 Ohio State vs. Texas State
3:30 p.m. #16 Texas A&M vs. Nevada
6:30 p.m. North Texas vs.
#15 Ohio State
Saturday, August 27
11 a.m. North Texas vs. Texas State
1 p.m. #16 Texas A&M vs. #15 Ohio State
4 p.m. Nevada vs. Texas State
6:30 p.m. #16 Texas A&M vs. North Texas
Texas State Notes
- Head Coach Karen Chisum returns for her 37th season and ranks sixth among NCAA Division I active coaches with 821 career victories. Only nine other NCAA coaches in all three NCAA Divisions have recorded 800 wins. Chisum enters the tournament with an 821-521-3 career record.
- Picked to finish second in the West Division of the Sun Belt Conference, Texas State returns 10 players off of last season's team that posted a 19-12 overall record, including a 13-3 mark against Sun Belt Teams.
- Texas State's roster features nine upper classmen consisting of six seniors and three juniors. The Bobcats also have two sophomores and seven freshmen in 2016.
- The six seniors are Lauren Kirch, Morgan Lewis, Emily Shelton, Alex Silver, Shelby Vas Matt and Kelsey Weynand.
- The junior trio is Erin Hoppe, Jaliyah Bolden and Jordan Kohl.
- The two sophomores are Madison Daigle and Tori Luckenbill, a transfer setter from Cameron.
- This year's freshmen include defensive specialists Mattie Adams, Micah Dinwiddie, Camila Vecchi and Konner Wood. The other three first-year collegians are hitters Sara Martin, Marissa Kindred and Megan Porter.
- Junior Jordan Kohl was named a preseason All-Sun Belt Conference selection by the league's head coaches after she earned Second-Team All-SBC honors last season. She led the Bobcats with 320.8 total points after hitting .246 and averaging 2.78 kills and 0.59 blocks per set.
- It has been quite a summer for Kohl, who won a pair of Gold Medals while playing for Team USA in the Pan American Deaf Regional Championship and the World Deaf Volleyball Championship.
- Last year, Shelby Vas Matt was named to the Sun Belt Conference Leadership Team. She ranked second on the team with 29.0 points. Finished second among team leaders with 2.42 digs and 2.42 kills per set.
- Vas Matt also joined Lauren Kirch, Alex Silver and Kelsey Weynand on the Sun Belt Conference Commissioner's List after compiling a GPA of 3.5 or higher in 2015-16.
- The Bobcats outhit their opponents, .215 to .184, last season, and led opposing teams in kills (12.89-11.70) and blocks (2.12-2.05) per set.
Scouting Ohio State
- Ohio State returns nine letterwinners consisting of three starters and the libero from last year's 25-10 team that advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 before suffering a 3-2 loss to top-ranked and No. 5 seed Washington.
- Middle blocker Taylor Sandbothe is on the preseason All-Big Ten Team after earning AVCA All-America First-Team honors as a junior.
- Senior libero Valeria Leon returns after setting a school record with 4.31 digs per set last year.
- The Buckeyes outhit their opponents, .242 to .176, last season. They also led their opponents in kills (13.81 to 11.57), digs (15.06 to 14.05) and blocks (2.53 to 2.15) per set.
- Geoff Carlston (Minnesota, '93) is 171-104 entering his ninth season as head coach of the Buckeyes.
Scouting North Texas
- North Texas is picked to finish sixth in Conference USA and coming off a 20-13 season last year. The Mean Green placed third in C-USA with an 11-5 league record in 2015.
- North Texas returns 11 letterwinners that includes only one senior, setter Amy Henard, who averaged 9.63 assists per game.
- The Mean Green will have to replace two-time C-USA Player of the Year Carnae Dillard, who led the nation with 5.41 kills per set in 2015.
- Andrew Paileo is entering his fourth season as head coach at North Texas and has led the Mean Green to consecutive 20-win seasons.
Scouting Nevada
- Nevada went 12-18 overall in 2015, and finished seventh in the Mountain West Conference with a 7-11 record. It was the Wolf Pack's most conference victories since joining the league.
- Nevada returns four seniors, including outside hitter Madison Morell, who led the team with 3.88 kills and 4.50 points per set.
- The Wolf Pack, which went 4-0 in five-set matches, was outhit .226 to .188 last season.
- Lee Nelson is in his second season as head coach of the Wolf Pack.
Upcoming Schedule
Following the North Texas Challenge, Texas State returns home to host Baylor next Tuesday, August 28, beginning at 6:30 p.m. in Strahan Coliseum. The Bobcats also host the Creeds and Crests Classic on Sept. 2-3. The Bobcats open the tournament with a pair of matches on Friday with a 10:30 a.m. contest against Stephen F. Austin and a 7 p.m. match versus Kennesaw State. Texas State will play Tulsa at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
