MATCH 20: Texas State at Georgia Southern
Time / Date	5:30 p.m. / Friday, October 5
Location	Statesboro, Ga.
Arena	Hanner Fieldhouse
Live Stats	Statbroadcast
Video	True Blue TV
Audio	None
Match Notes	Texas State
Series History	TXST leads 5-0

SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State volleyball team takes its nine-match win streak to Georgia for a pair of Sun Belt Conference matches this weekend.

The Bobcats (14-5, 5-0 Sun Belt) will first lock up with red-hot Georgia Southern (7-10, 2-1) at 5:30 p.m. CDT Oct. 5 in Statesboro, Ga.

TXST will conclude its trip against Georgia State (4-9, 1-2) at 5:30 p.m. CDT Oct. 6 in Atlanta.

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 21: Texas State at Georgia State
Time / Date	5:30 p.m. / Saturday, October 6
Location	Atlanta, Ga.
Arena	GSU Sports Arena
Live Stats	NeuLion
Video ($)	Panther Vision
Audio	None
Match Notes	Texas State
Series History	TXST leads 9-2

•    The trio has been at Texas State for a combined 69 years (39/17/13), a mark which is by far the highest in the nation for any coaching staff. The next closest is Bryant at just 52 years, while St. John's and Northern Iowa are tied for third at 49 cumulative seasons.

A LOOK AT TEXAS STATE
•    Texas State has posted a 14-5 record this season and is off to a 5-0 start in Sun Belt Conference action.
•    The Bobcats are receiving 22 votes in the latest VolleyballMag.com Mid-Major Poll and sit just four spots shy of cracking the top 25.
•    The maroon and gold won five consecutive matches earlier this year and is currently on a conference leading nine-match win streak.
•    Statistically, TXST leads the Sun Belt in most wins overall (14), home wins (7), road wins (5), longest win streak (9), attack percentage (.257), assists per set (13.66) and kills per set (14.31), while ranking third in digs (15.76).
•    Individually, Emily DeWalt leads the Sun Belt in double-doubles (12) and ranks third in assists (10.53). Tyeranee Scott is second in hitting percentage (.357), Madison Daigle is fifth in hitting percentage (.335) and sixth in blocks (1.05), Amy Pflughaupt is fifth in kills (3.16), Micah Dinwiddie is sixth in digs (3.82), and Cheyenne Huskey is seventh in kills (3.00).
•    Texas State's strength of schedule is currently ranked No. 39 in the nation. The next closest Sun Belt school is Coastal Carolina at No. 74, while Arkansas State is third at No. 137.
•    In her 39 years leading the Bobcats, Karen Chisum has 30 winning seasons and 24 campaigns with at least 20 victories. She is tied for 10th in NCAA history in career wins (882).

A LOOK AT GEORGIA SOUTHERN
•    The Eagles (7-10, 2-1 Sun Belt) are one of the hottest teams in the league at the moment, having won six of their last seven matches.
•    They own triumphs over South Alabama and Troy, with the lone Sun Belt loss coming to undefeated Appalachian State.
•    GS ranks second in the conference in blocks (2.71) and sixth in opponent hitting percentage (.185).
•    Lauren Reichard (1.33) and Lauren Hager (1.31) are third and fourth in the league in blocking, while Madison Brown is fifth in assists (9.28).
•    The team was projected to finish sixth in the Sun Belt East Division this season.
•    Texas State is 5-0 all-time against Georgia Southern and has never lost a set to the Eagles.

A LOOK AT GEORGIA STATE
•    The Panthers (4-9, 1-2 Sun Belt) have won two of their last four matches after opening the season with a 2-7 record.
•    They picked up a five-set win over Troy this past weekend and took undefeated Appalachian State to five sets two weeks ago.
•    GSU ranks fourth in the conference in blocks (2.15) and sixth in both aces (1.24) and digs (14.89).
•    Morgan Hash is currently fifth in aces (0.40), Crystal Lee is sixth in kills (3.04), Sarah Renner is seventh in assists (8.43) and Griffin Meisheia is seventh in blocks (1.05).
•    The team was projected to finish fifth in the Sun Belt East Division this season.
•    Texas State is 9-2 all-time against Georgia State and is on a six-match win streak in the series.

BATTLE TESTED
•    Four of Texas State's five setbacks this season have come against teams who are currently ranked in the AVCA Coaches Top 25 Poll (No. 4 Texas, No. 18 Kentucky, No. 19 Marquette, No. 23 Baylor).
•    The fifth loss was to an LSU program that was receiving votes in the national poll.
•    In 149 total non-conference matches, the rest of the Sun Belt Conference combined for just six against ranked opponents all season (Georgia Southern vs. Minnesota / Arkansas State vs. Creighton / Louisiana vs. USC and San Diego / South Alabama vs. Purdue and Alabama).
•    The Bobcats also own victories over James Madison, who was ranked No. 13 in the VolleyballMag.com Mid-Major Poll, and Rice, who is receiving votes in the same poll.
•    Texas State competed against five opponents who hail from a Power 5 Conference (Big 12, Big Ten, ACC, SEC, Pac-12) during the non-conference portion of the season. That mark is also the highest of any Sun Belt school.

THE BEST IS IN THE WEST
•    Through the first six weeks of the season, the Sun Belt West Division has reigned supreme over the East Division.
•    Five of the six teams from the West have at least nine wins and are at least .500, and three have at least 10 victories.
•    Appalachian State (12-4) is the only team from the East with at least eight victories or a winning record.
•    The combined winning percentage from the West is currently .573 (59-44) overall and .500 (13-13) in league play.
•    The combined winning percentage amongst East teams is currently .433 (39-51) overall and .500 (10-10) in Sun Belt matches.
•    In matches pitting East vs. West teams in 2018, the two divisions are 4-4.

THE CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
•    The 2018 Sun Belt Conference Volleyball Championship will be conducted Nov. 15-18 inside GSU Sports Arena in Atlanta.
•    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. 17.
•    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. 16.
•    The final four teams will be seeded regardless of division and will compete in the first round on Nov. 15.
•    The championship match will be held at noon Nov. 18.
•    Texas State has reached at least the semifinals all five years since joining the Sun Belt, which includes a tournament title in 2013.
•    All matches will be streamed live on ESPN Plus.

WHERE THEY STAND
•    TXST is currently 5-0 in league play and has a two-match lead in the loss column over three others from the Sun Belt West Division.
•    If the season were to end today, Appalachian State and Texas State would win their respective divisions and earn double byes into the semifinals of the conference championship.
•    Coastal Carolina and Georgia Southern 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 UT Arlington (No. 5), Little Rock (No. 6), Arkansas State (No. 7) and Georgia State (No. 8).
•    South Alabama, Louisiana, ULM and Troy are all currently on the outside looking in for a playoff berth.

THE LAST TIME OUT
•    Texas State came from two sets down to defeat UT Arlington 3-2 (20-25, 22-25, 25-10, 25-21, 15-8) Tuesday night inside Strahan Arena.
•    Sarabi Worsley-Gilbert led the maroon and gold with 18 kills, while Madison Daigle added 14 kills and eight blocks to the winning cause. Emily DeWalt had a double-double with 49 assists and 22 digs. Micah Dinwiddie (17), Kayla Granado (11) and Brooke Johnson (10) all tallied double-digit digs.
•    Texas State led the evening in kills (63-55), attack percentage (.276-.202), assists (60-54), aces (10-3), digs (78-63), and blocks (10-7).
•    This is the second-straight meeting that Texas State has come from two sets down to defeat UTA. The Mavericks still lead the all-time series 41-38, but TXST has won the last seven meetings and 17 of the last 19.

DeWALT NAMED AVCA NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
•    Emily DeWalt was honored as the Sports Imports/AVCA Division I National Player of the Week on Oct. 2.
 •    The freshman setter became the first player in Texas State volleyball history to win the award. She's also the fourth player in Sun Belt Conference history to be bestowed the honor, joining Western Kentucky's Amanda Schiff (Nov. 10, 2003), Middle Tennessee State's Ashley Adams (Sept. 6, 2005) and WKU's Jordyn Skinner (Sept. 13, 2011).
•    DeWalt helped Texas State collect home wins over Little Rock and Arkansas State.
•    She had double-doubles in both matches, while averaging 14.00 assists per set (98) and 3.43 digs per set (24). She also added six kills, four aces and a block. She had 55 assists and 14 digs against LR and tallied 43 assists and 10 digs against A-State. Both assist totals were the most this season by a Sun Belt player in a three- and four-set match, respectively.
•    DeWalt was also named the Sun Belt Setter and Freshman of the Week for her performance. She is both the first setter and the first freshman to win the national laurel this season.

FITZGERALD NABS WEEKLY HONOR
•    Janell Fitzgerald was named Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 1 after helping TXST to home victories over Little Rock and Arkansas State.
•    She averaged 4.14 kills per set (29 total) and hit .389 (eight errors, 54 swings) across the two victories. She hit .412 and led TXST with a career-high-tying 18 kills against the Trojans. She then had 11 kills and just four errors in a sweep over the Red Wolves. She also added seven digs and five blocks across the two matches.
•    Fitzgerald's first-career accolade gives Texas State three different offensive players of the week in 2018 (Amy Pflughaupt, Sept. 10 / Cheyenne Huskey, Sept. 17). This is the first time since 2005 that a Sun Belt school had three different players win one award (Western Kentucky).
•    Texas State has now won 12 of the 26 awards handed out by the conference in 2018. The next closest school has just four. The 12 weekly honors is also a new school record for the Bobcats.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE MACHINES
    Five different members of the maroon and gold have recorded at least one double-double this season.
•    Emily DeWalt (12) - The true freshman has registered at least 10 assists and digs in 12 of Texas State's 19 matches this season. That mark leads the Sun Belt Conference.
•    Micah Dinwiddie (1) - The junior libero had 18 digs and a career-high 11 assists for the first double-double of her career against Louisiana.
•    Cheyenne Huskey (5) - The junior transfer has logged double-digit kills and digs against UTSA, James Madison, Rice, Northern Arizona, and Arkansas State.
•    Amy Pflughaupt (1) - The senior ended the match against Rice with season highs in both kills (18) and digs (15).
•    Brooke Johnson (1) - The sophomore collected 11 digs and 10 assists against Kentucky.

2018 CAREER-HIGH PERFORMANCES
    Below is a list of all Bobcat returners who have registered new single-match career highs in 2018.
•    Madison Daigle - 4 assists (UTSA), 6 digs (James Madison)
•    Micah Dinwiddie - 11 assists (Louisiana)
•    Brooke Johnson - 4 aces (UTA)
•    Tyeranee Scott - .900 attack percentage (Louisiana)
•    Konner Wood - 3 assists (UTSA)

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