Volleyball | 9/27/2017 8:00:00 AM

SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State volleyball team is set to venture to the Carolinas for a pair of Sun Belt Conference contests. The Bobcats will head to Boone, North Carolina, for a 5:30 p.m. match Sept. 29 against Appalachian State (6-10, 1-1 SBC) and will then meet Coastal Carolina (5-6, 2-0 SBC) at 11:30 a.m. Oct. 1 in Conway, South Carolina.

Texas State (9-7, 1-1 SBC) split a pair of league matches at home last weekend. The maroon and gold has never met CCU in Conway and has only traveled to Boone twice before in school history (3-0 losses in both 2014 and 2015).

MATCH 1: TEXAS STATE at APPALACHIAN STATE
Site: Holmes Center – Boone, N.C.
Date/Time: September 29 / 5:30 p.m. (CDT)
TV/Online Stream: WatchESPN
Live Stats: HERE
Radio: None
All-Time Series Record: Seried tied 3-3

MATCH 2: TEXAS STATE at COASTAL CAROLINA
Site: HTC Center – Conway, S.C.
Date/Time: October 1 / 11:30 a.m. (CDT)
TV/Online Stream: HERE
Live Stats: HERE
Radio: None
All-Time Series Record: Coastal Carolina leads 2-0

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 years.
•    For comparison's sake, the respective coaching staffs of this weekend's opponents of Appalachian State (18) and Coastal Carolina (8) have only been at their schools for a combined 26 total years.

A LOOK AT TEXAS STATE
•    The Bobcats have the most wins and second-best win percentage of all teams in the Sun Belt Conference. They are one of only four teams who currently sport a winning record in the league. South Alabama is 7-5, Louisiana is 8-7 and Arkansas State is 8-7.
•    TXST presently leads the conference in assists (12.37) and ranks second in opponent hitting percentage (.166), kills (13.10) and digs (16.11).
•    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.
•    TXST is 4-2 at home, 2-4 on neutral grounds and 3-1 in true road matches this season.
•    The Bobcats own eight non-conference victories this year, which is the most since 2013.

STREAK SNAPPERS
•    Texas State put a stop to two long win streaks in the final week of non-conference play.
•    On Sept. 10, Texas State upended Houston Baptist 3-0. The Huskies entered the contest with an unblemished 7-0 mark before being dispatched of by the Bobcats.
•    On Sept. 12, the maroon and gold knocked off Stephen F. Austin 3-1 in Nacogdoches. The Lady Jacks were riding an 11-match win streak, which led the nation at the time. SFA also had its 11-match home win streak stifled.

A LOOK AT APPALACHIAN STATE
•    Appalachian State owns a 6-10 overall record and a 1-1 Sun Belt mark this season.
•    The Mountaineers began the year 2-5 but have posted a 4-5 record since. That includes a 3-2 triumph at Little Rock and a hard-fought 3-2 setback at preseason SBC favorite Arkansas State this past weekend.
•    Other triumphs have been against Loyola (Md.) and South Dakota State.
•    Recent losses have come against Virginia, North Dakota and College of Charleston.
•    Texas State and App State are tied 3-3 in the all-time series. The Mountaineers had a stretch of three-consecutive 3-0 victories that was halted in five sets last season in San Marcos.

A LOOK AT COASTAL CAROLINA
•    The Chanticleers (5-6, 2-0 SBC) went unblemished through the opening weekend of league play, knocking off Little Rock and Arkansas State.
•    CCU will face UTA in Conway two days prior to taking on Texas State.
•    Coastal Carolina has topped UTSA, Indiana State and American.
•    Losses have been to Iowa (twice), Florida Atlantic, Duke and North Carolina.
•    The Chanticleers have not played at home this season.
•    CCU - the defending league champ - was picked to repeat this season.
•    Coastal Carolina leads the all-time series against Texas State 2-0, winning each of the first two meetings last year.

THE LAST TIME OUT
•    Texas State earned its first Sun Belt Conference victory with a 3-0 (25-14, 25-15, 25-12) sweep over Troy this past Sunday inside Strahan Coliseum.
 •    The Bobcats (9-7, 1-1 SBC) posted a .486 hitting percentage for the day, which was their highest since reaching a school-record mark of .554 against Prairie View A&M on Sept. 4, 2015. The tally was also the highest against a conference opponent since at least 2006. Texas State's match-by-match statistics only go back through the past 10 years.
 •    The Trojans (5-11, 0-2 SBC) fell to 0-9 all-time against the maroon and gold.
 •    Amy Pflughaupt finished with a match-high 11 kills coupled with just two errors on 18 swings (.500 attack percentage). Jaliyah Bolden countered with nine kills and two errors on 16 attempts for a .438 hitting percentage, while Megan Porter hit .500 (nine kills, one error, 16 attacks) and added eight digs.
 •    Erin Hoppe controlled the offense with a season-best 35 assists, and Madison Daigle was a force at the net with a career-high 10 blocks. She also had seven kills and posted a career-high hitting percentage of .600 (one error, 10 attacks).
•    The Bobcats had match highs in every statistical category, including kills (41-27), attack percentage (.486-.075), assists (38-27), service aces (4-1), digs (26-25) and blocks (10-1).

DOUBLE-DOUBLE MACHINES
    Four 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 six this season. She has reached double-figure kills and digs against Cincinnati, Sam Houston State, UTSA (twice), SMU, and Stephen F. Austin.
•    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 at least 10 kills/digs against Cincinnati, Sam Houston State, SMU and UTSA.
•    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 & Classic All-Tournament Team
•    Megan Porter - Creeds & Classic All-Tournament Team
•    Madison Daigle - SBC Defensive Player of the Week (Sept. 12)
•    Micah Dinwiddie - Baylor Classic All-Tournament Team (Best Defender)

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)
•    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)
•    Marissa Kindred - 8 kills and 3 blocks (Sam Houston State), .167 hitting percentage and 5 digs (UTSA)
•    Micah Dinwiddie - 8 assists (Cincinnati)
•    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)

FRESH FACES
•    During non-conference play this season, the Bobcats faced off against six teams never-before seen in program history.
•    The maroon and gold went 3-3 against its new friends, defeating Cincinnati, Xavier and UMass Lowell, while falling to VCU, Western Michigan and St. John's.

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