Volleyball | 11/9/2017 8:00:00 AM
SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State volleyball team will play host to Louisiana and ULM in a pair of rematches to close out the regular season.
The Bobcats (21-8, 12-2 SBC) will first welcome the Ragin' Cajuns (19-9, 12-2 SBC) at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 10 before enjoying Senior Day against the Warhawks (5-26, 1-13 SBC) at noon Nov. 12. TXST will celebrate the careers of elder statesmen
Jaliyah Bolden and
Erin Hoppe prior to Sunday's match.
The winner of Friday's tilt will be the SBC West Division champion and will earn a double bye into the semifinals at the 2017 Sun Belt Championship Nov. 16-19. Louisiana defeated Texas State 3-2 on Oct. 28 in Lafayette.
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.
• 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 weekend'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 amassed 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 lead the Sun Belt Conference in RPI (74), most wins overall (21), most road wins (9), highest win percentage (.724) and longest win streak (W10). They are also second in home victories (10).
• Statistically, TXST leads the league in opponent hitting percentage (.156), assists (12.95) and kills (13.73), while ranking second in digs (16.72).
• 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 has reached 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 24 campaigns with at least 20 victories.
A LOOK AT LOUISIANA
• The Ragin' Cajuns enter the weekend at 19-9 overall and 12-2 in the league. They are tied for first place in the SBC West Division with Texas State.
• They are 14-2 since mid-September, which includes a home five-set victory over Texas State.
• Louisiana is home to one of the league's top defensive units, ranking first in digs (16.93), second in blocks (2.40) and third in opponent hitting percentage (.187).
• Sydney Davis is third in digs (4.92) and has twice been honored as the SBC Defensive Player of the Week. Jessica Bartczyszyn is third in assists (9.59) and has twice been selected as the SBC Setter of the Week. Hali Wisnoskie is a three-time SBC Freshman of the Week honoree.
• Texas State is 13-1 all-time against Louisiana. The Ragin' Cajuns picked up their first win in the series on Oct. 28 in Lafayette.
A LOOK AT ULM
• The Warhawks own a 5-26 record in 2017 with a 1-13 Sun Belt Conference mark.
• They will face UTA in Arlington two days prior to taking on the Bobcats.
• ULM recently earned its first win in league play and took a set off South Alabama.
• The Warhawks are one of the most dominant serving teams in the SBC, ranking third overall with 136 this season.
• Kacey LeBlanc, the preseason SBC Defensive Player of the Year, leads the conference with 39 aces this year. She is also fifth in digs at 4.46/set.
• TXST is 41-2 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.
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 12-2 in league play and is in a tie for first place in the SBC West Division.
• If the season were to end today, Coastal Carolina and Louisiana would win their respective divisions and earn double byes into the semifinals of the conference championship.
• Texas State and South Alabama 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).
• Little Rock, Troy, Georgia State and ULM are all currently on the outside looking in for a playoff berth with one week left in the regular season.
LAST TIME OUT
• Texas State came from two sets down to earn a 3-2 (26-28, 17-25, 25-8, 25-21, 15-11) victory over UTA Monday night inside College Park Center.
• The Bobcats completed the season sweep over their rivals and moved into a tie for first place with Louisiana in the SBC West Division.
•
Megan Porter finished with a double-double of 16 kills and 12 digs.
Jaliyah Bolden pounded 10 kills, while
Amy Pflughaupt added 18 digs.
Erin Hoppe distributed a match-high 47 assists, while
Mattie Adams (13) and
Micah Dinwiddie (11) also posted double-digit digs.
• Texas State led in every statistical category, including kills (60-55), attack percentage (.229-.138), assists (56-53), aces (6-4), digs (67-63), and blocks (15-13).
NEW POSTSEASON OPPORTUNITY
• The end of the 2017 season is set to feature the return of a secondary postseason tournament for women's college volleyball teams.
• The National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) will be an annual tournament involving 64 of the nation's top women's Division I volleyball teams.
• All games, including the semifinals and championship, will be hosted by participating schools.
• The previous iteration of the NIVC was held for seven seasons (1989-95) as a 20-team event, but the remodeled format will look similar to college basketball's WNIT.
• There will be 32 automatic berths, one to each established conference, and 32 at-large berths.
• Teams offered an automatic berth will be the highest-finishing team in its conference's regular-season standings who are not selected for the NCAA Championship. The team's overall record is not a criteria.
• The 64-team field will be announced Nov. 26 after the NCAA Championship field is determined. The first two rounds will run Nov. 28-30 with four teams competing per site. The event will culminate with the championship match on Dec. 12.
• If the tournament had debuted last season, Texas State would have qualified as a No. 6 seed in its region and would have faced Rice in Houston in the opening round.
KNOCKING OFF GIANTS
• Texas State is undefeated against Coastal Carolina and Arkansas State this season.
• The Bobcats knocked off the Chanticleers 3-0 in Conway on Oct. 1 and twice blanked the Red Wolves in both Jonesboro (Oct. 7) and San Marcos (Nov. 3).
• The shutout losses were the first for the Red Wolves in SBC play since Nov. 22, 2014. That was also the last time an opponent swept them twice in the same season.
• Coastal Carolina suffered its first home sweep in a conference match since Oct. 29, 2011, when the team was a member of the Big South Conference. It remains just the second loss overall as members of the Sun Belt, as the Chants are 13-1 this season.
• CCU joined the league in 2016 and has only lost twice. Arkansas State defeated them in the regular season last year.
• Coastal Carolina is the defending league champions, while A-State is currently the reigning SBC West Division champs.
• The two sides met in the SBC Championship match last year and were projected by the league's coaches to have repeat efforts in 2017.
• No other member of the Sun Belt can lay claim to recording wins over both programs this year.
BREAKING OUT THE BROOMS
• The Bobcats recently ended a stretch of nine consecutive 3-0 victories over SBC competition.
• The maroon and gold swept Troy, Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Little Rock, Arkansas State, UTA, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, and ULM.
• The streak tied the school record for consecutive shutouts in league play, a mark matched only one other time in school history (2000).
• Five of the shutouts were on the road, which broke the previous school record of four, which was also set in 2000.
• Eleven of Texas State's 12 conference victories this season have been sweeps.
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 11 this season.
• Newcomer
Amy Pflughaupt has doubled up on seven occasions, while freshman
Brooke Johnson owns six double-double performances.
• Senior
Erin Hoppe tallied 39 assists and a career-high 14 digs against TCU. She also had 22 assists and 11 digs against ULM.
• Junior
Madison Daigle recorded career highs in both kills (16) and blocks (10) against UTSA.
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 - 3x SBC Setter of the Week (Oct. 2/Oct. 9/Nov. 6)
•
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), .619 hitting percentage (Arkansas State), 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/ULM)
•
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)
HOPPE LANDS THIRD ACCOLADE
•
Erin Hoppe was honored as the Sun Belt Conference Setter of the Week on Nov. 6 after driving TXST to a pair of sweeps over Arkansas State (Nov. 3) and Little Rock (Nov. 5).
• The senior dished out 13.5 assists per set (81 total), while pacing an offensive attack that posted 14.83 kills per set on a .275 attack percentage. She began her weekend with a match-high 45 assists against A-State before registering another match-best 36 against LR. The Red Wolves suffered just their second shutout loss during conference play this season (both by TXST), and they also saw their seven-match win streak come to a close.
• The Sun Belt Preseason Setter of the Year is the only player in the conference to win the setter of the week award at least three times in 2017. The laurel is also the fifth of her career.
• The Bobcats are 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.
-- TXSTATEBOBCATS.COM --
