Volleyball | 10/18/2017 8:00:00 AM

MATCH 23: Georgia Southern at Texas State
Date	Friday, Oct. 20
Time	6:30 p.m.
Location	San Marcos, Texas
Arena	Strahan Coliseum
Live Stats	StatBroadcast | SIDEARM
Video ($)	Texas State All-Access
Radio	KTSW 89.9 FM
Match Notes	Texas State
Series History	TXST leads 4-0

SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State volleyball team will bring its seven-match win streak into a weekend series with the two Sun Belt Conference schools hailing from Georgia.

The Bobcats (15-7, 6-1 SBC) will first play host to Georgia Southern (7-13, 3-5 SBC) at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 20 and will end their weekend with an additional 6:30 p.m. bout Oct. 21 against Georgia State (8-13, 2-6 SBC).

The maroon and gold has swept each of its last six SBC opponents and is coming off home wins over TCU (3-1) and UTA (3-0) last week.

AMERICA'S LONGEST-TENURED STAFF
•    The Texas State full-time coaching staff consists of head coach Karen Chisum, associate head coach Tracy Smith and assistant coach Sean Huiet.

MATCH 24: Georgia State at Texas State
Date	Saturday, Oct. 21
Time	6:30 p.m.
Location	San Marcos, Texas
Arena	Strahan Coliseum
Live Stats	StatBroadcast | SIDEARM
Video ($)	Texas State All-Access
Radio	KTSW 89.9 FM
Match Notes	Texas State
Series History	TXST leads 8-2

•    The trio has been at Texas State for a combined 66 years (38/16/12), a mark which is by far the highest in the nation for any coaching staff. The next closest is Texas A&M at just 52 years, while Penn State ranks third at 47.
•    For comparison's sake, the respective coaching staffs of this week's opponents of Georgia Southern (7) and Georgia State (6) have only been at their schools for a combined 13 total years.
•    Not counting Little Rock's 45 years, the other 10 Sun Belt Conference schools have only 82 combined years of tenure. Of the bunch, Appalachian State leads at 18 years, while Louisiana ranks second at 12.

A LOOK AT TEXAS STATE
•    The Bobcats have the most wins overall (15) and the most road wins (7) in the Sun Belt Conference. They are also second-best in win percentage (.682), fewest losses (7), home victories (6) and current winning streak (W7).
•    TXST presently leads the conference in assists (12.93) and kills (13.63), while ranking second in opponent hitting percentage (.163) and digs (16.43).
•    Other than digs in 2013, Texas State has never finished a campaign leading the Sun Belt in a statistical category.
•    The maroon and gold became members of the SBC in 2013.
•    Texas State finished second in the SBC West Division last year and advanced to the semifinals of the 2016 SBC Championship.
•    The Bobcats own nine non-conference victories this year, which is the most since 2013.

A LOOK AT GEORGIA SOUTHERN
•    The Eagles are 7-13 this season with a 3-5 record in the Sun Belt Conference.
•    GS owns two league triumphs over Troy and one victory over ULM.
•    The team has lost to Louisiana, South Alabama (twice), Coastal Carolina and Appalachian State.
•    Georgia Southern has one of the best blocking units in the league, ranking fourth at 2.23 blocks per set.
•    Lauren Reichard ranks second in the SBC in blocks (1.25) and 10th in hitting percentage (.304). Brooke Birch is fifth in service aces (0.32), and April Luther is fourth in assists (9.53).
•    TXST has never lost to Georgia Southern in the four all-time matchups, the first of which came in 2014.

A LOOK AT GEORGIA STATE
•    The Panthers enter the weekend at 8-13 overall and 2-6 in the Sun Belt.
•    GSU will face UTA the day before traveling to San Marcos.
•    The team owns league victories over ULM and Appalachian State, while suffering setbacks to Louisiana, South Alabama (twice), Troy (twice) and Coastal Carolina.
•    GSU is the most dominant serving team in the Sun Belt with a league-best 128 service aces. Three of the SBC's top seven servers play for the Panthers, including No. 2 Crystal Lee (0.38 aces per set).
•    Celeste Friesen (5.01 digs per set) is the second-best libero in the Sun Belt and has twice been honored as the SBC Defensive Player of the Week.
•    TXST leads the all-time series 8-2 and has won each of the last five meetings between the two programs.

THE CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
•    The 2017 Sun Belt Conference Volleyball Championship will emanate inside Convocation Center Nov. 16-19 in Jonesboro, Arkansas.
•    The top four teams from each division (8 total) will qualify for postseason play. The east and west division champions will earn the top two seeds and receive byes through to the semifinals on Nov. 18.
•    The next two best records (regardless of division) will earn the Nos. 3 and 4 seeds and will receive byes into the quarterfinals on Nov. 17.
•    The final four teams will be seeded regardless of division and will compete in the first round on Nov. 16.
•    The championship match will be held at 1 p.m. Nov. 19.
•    Texas State has reached the semifinals all four years since joining the SBC.
•    All matches will be streamed live on WatchESPN.

WHERE THEY STAND
•    TXST is currently 6-1 in league play and sits in solo second place in the SBC West Division.
•    If the season were to end today, South Alabama and Louisiana would win their respective divisions and earn double byes into the semifinals of the conference championship.
•    Coastal Carolina and Texas State would be the Nos. 3 and 4 seeds, respectively, and would begin play in the quarterfinals.
•    The field is currently slated to be rounded out by Arkansas State (No. 5), Georgia Southern (No. 6), Little Rock (No. 7) and Troy (No. 8).
•    UTA, Georgia State, Appalachian State, and ULM are all currently on the outside looking in for a playoff berth with four weeks left in the regular season.

LAST TIME OUT
•    TXST registered a 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-17) victory over rival UTA on Oct. 13 inside Strahan Coliseum.
•    The Bobcats tallied their 10th consecutive win over the Mavericks at home.
•    Amy Pflughaupt ended the evening with her sixth double-double of the campaign after tallying 10 kills and 10 digs. Megan Porter had a match-high 12 kills to go along with seven digs, while setting a new career high with three service aces. Jaliyah Bolden compiled 10 kills, Micah Dinwiddie anchored the backline with a season best three-set total of 22 digs, and Erin Hoppe piloted the offense with 29 assists.
•    The Bobcats led in kills (48-30), attack percentage (.272-.168), assists (46-28), service aces (4-1), and digs (57-41). UTA had a match high in blocks (5-3).

BOBCATS BRUSH ASIDE BIG 12 PROGRAM
•    Texas State earned a 3-1 (25-17, 25-22, 15-25, 25-16) victory over TCU on Oct. 10 inside Strahan Coliseum.
•    The triumph was the first over the Horned Frogs since Sept. 25, 2007 and the first over a Big 12 Conference program since Sept. 10, 2013 (Baylor).
•    Texas State is the lone SBC program to defeat a Big 12 school this season.
•    TXST earned its sixth win a row and was led offensively by Amy Pflughaupt and Megan Porter. Both finished with double-doubles, with Pflughaupt providing 18 digs and 10 kills. Porter chipped in 14 kills and 13 digs. Madison Daigle (13 kills, .500 attack percentage, eight blocks) and Jaliyah Bolden (nine kills, eight blocks) had monster nights in the middle, while Micah Dinwiddie had 16 digs. Erin Hoppe posted 39 assists and tied her career high with 14 digs for her first double-double of the season.
•    Texas State had match highs in kills (53-45), attack percentage (.179-.121), assists (49-42), digs (77-63), and blocks (12-10). Both sides had a solo ace.

BREAKING OUT THE BROOMS
•    The Bobcats have earned 3-0 victories in each of their last six SBC outings.
•    Over the stretch, the maroon and gold has swept Troy, Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Little Rock, Arkansas State, and UTA.
•    The last time TXST had at least six-consecutive shutout victories in league play came back in 2000, when the maroon and gold amassed a school-record streak of nine consecutive league sweeps.
•    Four of the last six shutouts have been on the road, which ties the school record for most consecutive 3-0 conference triumphs away from home.
•    The last such streak also came in 2000.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE MACHINES
    Five different members of the maroon and gold have recorded at least one double-double this season.
•    Megan Porter - who entered her sophomore campaign with one double-double on her resume - has tallied eight this season. She has reached double-figure kills and digs against Cincinnati, Sam Houston State, UTSA (twice), SMU, Stephen F. Austin, Arkansas State, and TCU.
•    Freshman Brooke Johnson owns six double-doubles in assists and digs against SMU, Houston Baptist, Stephen F. Austin, Baylor, UTSA and St. John's.
•    Newcomer Amy Pflughaupt has posted six double-doubles, coming against Cincinnati, Sam Houston State, SMU, UTSA, TCU, and UTA.
•    Junior Madison Daigle recorded career highs in both kills (16) and blocks (10) against UTSA.
•    Senior Erin Hoppe tallied 39 assists and a career-high 14 digs against TCU.

2017 TXST AWARD WATCH LIST
    Below is a list of all awards won by Bobcats in 2017.
•    Erin Hoppe - Sun Belt Preseason Setter of the Year
•    Jaliyah Bolden - Preseason All-Sun Belt
•    Erin Hoppe - Preseason All-Sun Belt
•    Megan Porter - Xavier Tournament All-Tournament Team
•    Effie Zielinski - Xavier Tournament All-Tournament Team
•    Madison Daigle - Creeds & Crests Classic All-Tournament Team
•    Megan Porter - Creeds & Crests Classic All-Tournament Team
•    Madison Daigle - SBC Defensive Player of the Week (Sept. 12)
•    Micah Dinwiddie - Baylor Classic All-Tournament Team (Best Defender)
•    Erin Hoppe - SBC Setter of the Week (Oct. 2)
•    Erin Hoppe - SBC Setter of the Week (Oct. 9)
•    Amy Pflughaupt - SBC Offensive Player of the Week (Oct. 9)

2017 CAREER-HIGH PERFORMANCES
    Below is a list of all Bobcat returners who have registered single-match career highs in 2017.
•    Jaliyah Bolden - 12 blocks (SMU), .500 attack percentage (Cincinnati), 6 digs (Arkansas State)
•    Madison Daigle - 16 kills (Cincinnati/UTSA), .600 hitting percentage (Troy), 10 blocks (UTSA/Troy), 5 digs (UTSA/South Alabama), 3 aces (Houston Baptist/UMass Lowell/UTSA), 2 assists (UMass Lowell/Little Rock)
•    Micah Dinwiddie - 8 assists (Cincinnati)
•    Erin Hoppe - 14 digs and .071 hitting percentage (TCU)
•    Marissa Kindred - 8 kills and 3 blocks (Sam Houston State), .167 hitting percentage and 5 digs (UTSA)
•    Megan Porter - 19 kills (UTSA), 3 assists (Sam Houston State), .500 hitting percentage (UMass Lowell/Troy), 26 digs (Cincinnati)
•    Konner Wood - 10 digs and 2 assists (UTSA)

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