Volleyball | 10/25/2017 8:00:00 AM

MATCH 25: Texas State at ULM
Date	Thursday, Oct. 26
Time	6:30 p.m.
Location	Monroe, Louisiana
Arena	Fant-Ewing Coliseum
Live Stats	SIDEARM
Video	Warhawks All-Access
Radio	None
Match Notes	Texas State
Series History	TXST leads 40-2

SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State volleyball team will take its nine-match win streak on the road to Louisiana this weekend.

The Bobcats (17-7, 8-1 SBC) will head to Monroe for a 6:30 p.m. bout Oct. 26 against ULM (4-23, 0-10 SBC). They will then trek to Lafayette and enter the fortress known as Earl K. Long Gym to do battle for SBC West supremacy against Louisiana (15-9, 8-2 SBC) at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 28. The victor will have the inside track on claiming the division title come season's end.

The maroon and gold is coming off clean sweeps of Georgia Southern and Georgia State at home this past weekend. TXST has shutout its last eight Sun Belt opponents, which is one shy of tying the school record set back in 2000.

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 26: Texas State at Louisiana
Date	Saturday, Oct. 28
Time	6:30 p.m.
Location	Lafayette, Louisiana
Arena	Earl K. Long Gym
Live Stats	StatBroadcast
Video	Rajin' Cajuns Digital Network
Radio	None
Match Notes	Texas State
Series History	TXST leads 13-0

•    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 Louisiana (12) and ULM (10) have only been at their schools for a combined 22 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.

NEARING OCTOBER PERFECTION
•    Texas State is currently 7-0 in October and is two wins away from securing a perfect month for the second year in a row. The Bobcats went 9-0 in October last season.
•    TXST finished the month 4-0 at home and is now on a 22-match win streak at home in the month of October dating back to Oct. 13, 2013 (Little Rock).

A LOOK AT TEXAS STATE
•    The Bobcats lead the Sun Belt Conference in most wins overall (17), most road wins (7), highest win percentage (.708) and longest active win streak (W9). They are also second in fewest losses (7) and home victories (8).
•    Statistically, TXST leads the conference in opponent hitting percentage (.156), assists (12.98) and kills (13.71), while ranking second in digs (16.51).
•    Other than digs in 2013, Texas State has never finished a campaign leading the Sun Belt in a statistical category.
•    The Bobcats own nine non-conference victories this year, which is the most since 2013.
•    TXST has already guaranteed itself a winning record this year and is three victories shy of reaching the 20-win plateau for the fourth time in five years since joining the Sun Belt.
•    In her 38 years leading the Bobcats, Karen Chisum now has 30 winning seasons and is three wins shy of reaching 20 victories for the 24th time.

A LOOK AT ULM
•    The Warhawks own a 4-23 record in 2017 with a 0-10 Sun Belt Conference mark.
•    ULM has defeated Mississippi Valley State, Alcorn State, North Carolina A&T and Nicholls. The team also went five sets against both Georgia State and Little Rock.
•    The Warhawks are one of the most dominant serving teams in the SBC, ranking second overall with 124 this season.
•    Kacey LeBlanc, the preseason SBC Defensive Player of the Year, leads the conference with 35 aces this year. She is also fifth in digs at 4.43/set.
•    ULM is the only team in the Sun Belt without a home win this season (0-8) and is currently on an 11-match losing skid.
•    TXST is 40-2 all-time against the Warhawks in a rivalry dating back to 1984. The Bobcats are also on a nine-match win streak in the series.

A LOOK AT LOUISIANA
•    The Ragin' Cajuns enter the weekend at 15-9 overall and 8-2 in the league. They had been leading the SBC West Division all season long but now sit a half-match behind TXST after dropping their most-recent outing to Coastal Carolina.
•    UL started conference play 7-0.
•    The team will host UTA two days prior to welcoming the Bobcats.
•    Key league wins have come against Arkansas State, Little Rock (twice) and Appalachian State.
•    Louisiana is home to one of the league's top defensive units, ranking first in digs (16.93) and third in opponent hitting percentage (.189).
•    Sydney Davis is third in digs (4.78) and has twice been honored as the SBC Defensive Player of the Week. Jessica Bartczyszyn is third in assists (9.65) and has twice been selected as the SBC Setter of the Week. Hali Wisnoskie is a two-time SBC Freshman of the Week honoree.
•    Texas State has never lost to Louisiana in 13 all-time meetings dating back to 1973, but two of the previous five contests have gone five sets.
•    The Ragin' Cajuns are 9-3 at home and have won eight of their last nine matches inside Earl K. Long Gym.

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, which includes a tournament title in 2013.
•    All matches will be streamed live on WatchESPN.

WHERE THEY STAND
•    TXST is currently 8-1 in league play and sits atop the SBC West Division.
•    If the season were to end today, South Alabama and Texas State would win their respective divisions and earn double byes into the semifinals of the conference championship.
•    Coastal Carolina and Louisiana 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), UTA (No. 6), Appalachian State (No. 7) and Georgia Southern (No. 8).
•    Troy, Little Rock, Georgia State and ULM are all currently on the outside looking in for a playoff berth with three weeks left in the regular season.

LAST TIME OUT
•    Texas State collected a decisive 3-0 (25-10, 25-17, 25-8) victory over Georgia State on Oct. 21 inside Strahan Coliseum.
•    The match was the fastest of the season for the Bobcats, lasting just one hour, two minutes.  
•    TXST was led by the middle-blocking duo of Jaliyah Bolden and Madison Daigle. Bolden erupted for 10 kills and just one error on 16 swings for a career-high .562 attack percentage. Daigle pummeled the stat sheet with 11 kills on a .368 hitting percentage to go along with three digs, two assists, one solo block and a career-high four service aces.
•    Erin Hoppe steered the offensive onslaught with 34 assists, while adding five digs, three kills and no errors of her own (.750). Micah Dinwiddie (17) and Amy Pflughaupt (10) both tallied double-digit digs, and Tyeranee Scott tied her career high with eight kills, while hitting .538 and adding five blocks.
•    No Panther tallied more than four kills or five digs. Libero Celeste Friesen entered the match second in the Sun Belt at 5.01 digs per set, but she finished with a career-low five. She had posted double-digit digs in each of her last 13 outings and had at least nine digs in every match this season.
•    Texas State dominated the match in every statistical category, including kills (45-16), attack percentage (.388-(-).022), assists (40-16), aces (8-1), digs (49-25), and blocks (6-5).
•    The last time a Texas State opponent finished with 16 kills or fewer came on Sept. 4, 2015, when Prairie View A&M finished with 13. The match marked the second time in 2017 that the Bobcats were able to hold an opponent to a negative hitting percentage. UMass Lowell hit -.073 on Sept. 9.
 
BREAKING OUT THE BROOMS
•    The Bobcats have earned 3-0 victories in each of their last eight SBC outings.
•    Over the stretch, the maroon and gold has swept Troy, Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Little Rock, Arkansas State, UTA, Georgia Southern and Georgia State.
•    The last time TXST had at least eight-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 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.

DINWIDDIE, SCOTT EARN LEAGUE AWARDS
•    Micah Dinwiddie (Defensive) and Tyeranee Scott (Freshman) both earned Sun Belt Conference weekly accolades on Oct. 23 after leading TXST to sweeps over Georgia Southern and Georgia State.
•    Dinwiddie posted 39 digs at 6.50 digs per set. She powered a defense that held its two opponents to just 43 kills (7.17/set) on a porous .052 hitting percentage. She registered 22 digs against the Eagles, who recorded their lowest hitting percentage in league play this season (.115). Dinwiddie then tallied 17 digs against the Panthers, who finished with a season-worst percentage of -.022.
 •    She has now won three defensive awards in her career (Oct. 17, 2016/Oct. 31, 2016) and has eight weekly accolades total after being named the freshman of the week on five occasions last season.
•    Scott led Texas State in solo blocks (3), total blocks (8) and hitting percentage (.480) last week. She registered 1.33 blocks per set and a pair of digs, while also adding 13 kills and just one error on 25 swings. The true freshman tallied five kills, no errors and three blocks against GS. She then posted career highs in kills (8), hitting percentage (.538) and solo blocks (3) against GSU.
•    TXST has now collected six weekly awards this season, which ranks second in the Sun Belt. With Scott's first-career accolade, the Bobcats are now one of just two SBC programs to win all four weekly awards at least once this year. Texas State boasts five different award winners, which is also second in the league.

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)
•    Micah Dinwiddie - SBC Defensive Player of the Week (Oct. 23)
•    Tyeranee Scott - SBC Freshman of the Week (Oct. 23)

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), .562 attack percentage (Georgia State), 6 digs (Arkansas State)
•    Madison Daigle - 16 kills (Cincinnati/UTSA), .600 hitting percentage (Troy), 10 blocks (UTSA/Troy), 5 digs (UTSA/South Alabama), 4 aces (Georgia State), 2 assists (3 times)
•    Micah Dinwiddie - 8 assists (Cincinnati)
•    Erin Hoppe - 14 digs (TCU), 7 kills and .400 hitting percentage (Georgia Southern)
•    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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