MATCH 15: Texas State at ULM
Time / Date	6:30 p.m. / Friday, September 21
Location	Monroe, La.
Arena	Fant-Ewing Coliseum
Live Stats	SIDEARM
Video ($)	Warhawks All-Access
Audio	None
Match Notes	Texas State
Series History	TXST leads 42-2

SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State volleyball team opens Sun Belt Conference play with a pair of road matches in Louisiana this weekend. The Bobcats (9-5, 0-0 Sun Belt) will face ULM (6-6, 0-0 Sun Belt) at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 21 inside Fant-Ewing Coliseum in Monroe, La. The maroon and gold will then take on Louisiana (8-6, 0-0 Sun Belt) at noon Sept. 23 at Earl K. Long Gym in Lafayette, La.

The two contests will close out the longest road stretch of the season for TXST, which spans six matches across 20 days.

 

MATCH 16: Texas State at Louisiana
Time / Date	Noon / Sunday, September 23
Location	Lafayette, La.
Arena	Earl K. Long Gym
Live Stats	Statbroadcast
Video ($)	Ragin' Cajuns Digital Network
Audio	None
Match Notes	Texas State
Series History	TXST leads 15-1

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 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 9-5 record in 2018. The Bobcats are receiving 13 votes in the latest VolleyballMag.com Mid-Major Poll and sit just four spots shy of cracking the top 25.
•    The maroon and gold had a five-match win streak earlier this year and owns a current streak of four-straight victories.
•    Statistically, TXST leads the Sun Belt in most wins overall (9), home wins (4), road wins (3), assists (13.16) and kills (13.73), while ranking third in hitting percentage (.236) and fifth in digs (15.51).
•    Individually, freshman Emily DeWalt is fourth in assists (9.76), senior Amy Pflughaupt is fifth in kills (3.28), senior Madison Daigle is sixth in blocks (1.18), junior Micah Dinwiddie is sixth in digs (3.67), and junior Cheyenne Huskey is seventh in kills (3.23).
•    TXST currently has the most victories and the toughest strength of schedule out of all 12 Sun Belt schools this season.
•    In her 39 years leading the Bobcats, Karen Chisum has 30 winning seasons and 24 campaigns with at least 20 victories.

A LOOK AT ULM
•    The Warhawks (6-6) are tied with Texas State for the second-longest current win streak in the Sun Belt. They also have already surpassed their win total from last season after tallying a 5-28 mark a year ago.
•    The squad owns victories over Mississippi State, North Alabama, Tennessee Tech, Mississippi Valley State, Grambling State, and Jackson State.
•    They are second in the Sun Belt Conference in opponent hitting percentage, third in blocks and fourth in aces.
•    Taylor Wood leads the Sun Belt in blocks, McKinley Thiede ranks seventh in aces and Catherine Griffith is eighth in attack percentage.
•    The team was projected to finish sixth in the Sun Belt West Division this season.
•    TXST is 42-2 all-time against the Warhawks in a rivalry dating back to 1984. The Bobcats are also on an 11-match win streak in the series dating back to 2005. They have dropped just two sets total in that stretch.

A LOOK AT LOUISIANA
•    The Ragin' Cajuns enter the weekend at 8-6 overall. They will host UT Arlington two days prior to welcoming the maroon and gold.
•    Louisiana enters league play having dropped four of its last five matches, but the team has played a brutal schedule during that stretch that features matches against TCU, SMU, USC and San Diego.
•    UL ranks third in the Sun Belt in digs, fifth in both hitting percentage and blocks, and sixth in assists.
•    The Ragin' Cajuns feature preseason All-Sun Belt selections Dree'Ana Abram and Hali Wisnoskie. Wisnoskie is the reigning Sun Belt Freshman of the Year and ranks sixth in the league in kills this year. Libero Sydney Davis is currently second in digs.
•    The team was projected to finish third in the Sun Belt West Division this season.
•    Texas State is 15-1 all-time against Louisiana, which includes knocking off UL in the semifinals of last season's Sun Belt Championship. The Ragin' Cajuns picked up their first win in the series last year in Lafayette.

JUNIOR, FRESHMAN EARN NATIONAL ACCOLADES
•    Cheyenne Huskey and Emily DeWalt both picked up multiple awards following a dominant week.
•    Huskey was named Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 17 and was named a VolleyMob.com National Player of the Week Honorable Mention on Sept. 18.
•    DeWalt earned three awards, including the PrepVolleyball.com Non-Power 5 National Freshman of the Week (Sept. 19), Sun Belt Setter of the Week (Sept. 17) and Sun Belt Freshman of the Week (Sept. 17).
•    The duo helped lead the Bobcats to the only 4-0 week in the Sun Belt. DeWalt was named MVP of the Sparky Classic, while Huskey also landed on the all-tournament team.
•    Huskey registered 56 kills (4.67/set) and just 11 errors on 91 swings for a blistering .495 hitting clip. She added 32 digs (2.67/set), seven aces, seven blocks and three assists.
•    DeWalt finished her week with 157 assists (12.08/set), 33 digs (2.54/set), 11 kills (0.85/set), four service aces and two blocks. She also hit .409 after registering 11 kills and just a pair of errors on 22 attacks.
•    This is the second national accolade for DeWalt, who was also selected as a VolleyMob.com National Player of the Week "Other Notable" on Sept. 4.
•    She is the only player from the Sun Belt Conference to win a national award this season.

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 (Texas, Baylor, Kentucky, Marquette).
•    The fifth loss was to an LSU program that was receiving votes in the national poll.
•    In 135 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 LAST TIME OUT
•    Texas State swept Arizona State 3-0 (25-22, 28-26, 25-17) on Sept. 15 to win the 2018 Sparky Classic Presented by DoubleTree by Hilton Phoenix Tempe.
•    The Bobcats dropped just one set all weekend to earn their second tournament championship of the non-conference season (Creeds & Crests Classic).
•    This marked the first time since 1998 that the maroon and gold captured two tournaments in the same year. The loss snapped a 15-match non-conference home winning streak for the Sun Devils (9-3) that dated back to 2014.
•    Janell Fitzgerald ripped off a personal-best 18 kills at a .500 hitting clip, while Cheyenne Huskey recorded 14 kills and just one error on 18 swings for a .722 hitting percentage. Emily DeWalt added 38 assists, and Kayla Granado reached double-digit digs for the first time in her career.
•    DeWalt was named MVP of the Sparky Classic, giving her a second tournament MVP honor this season (Creeds & Crests Classic). Huskey and Fitzgerald both earned spots on the all-tournament team.
•    Texas State led in kills (48-39), hitting percentage (.312-.235), assists (44-38), aces (5-1), and blocks (8-5). Arizona State led in digs (39-34).

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)
•    Brooke Johnson - 3 aces (Kentucky)
•    Konner Wood - 3 assists (UTSA)

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 1 p.m. Nov. 18.
•    Texas State has reached at least the semifinals all five years since joining the SBC, which includes a tournament title in 2013.
•    All matches will be streamed live on ESPN Plus.

TXST SITS ATOP PRESEASON POLL
•    Texas State sat atop the conference table with 70 points and 10 of 12 first-place votes. The designation marked the first time TXST earned the most votes in the preseason poll since joining the Sun Belt.
•    Arkansas State was second in the West Division with 58 points and one first-place vote, while Louisiana was picked third with 51 points and the final first-place tally.
•    Coastal Carolina, the two-time defending league tournament champions, was projected as the favorites in the Sun Belt East Division with 67 points and eight first-place votes. South Alabama was picked second with 63 points and the remaining four first-place votes, while Appalachian State nestled into third at 44 points.
•    The campaign is the third that the Sun Belt is utilizing a divisional format. The Bobcats were picked second in the West in the first two iterations of the preseason poll.

-- TXSTATEBOBCATS.COM --