SAN MARCOS, Texas – A weekend with the potential to have great implications for postseason play lies ahead for the Texas State volleyball team (16-7, 8-1 Sun Belt) as they travel to the Carolinas for a pair of matches. The Bobcats weekend will open with a 5:30 p.m. CT match Oct. 25 vs. Coastal Carolina (18-2, 8-0 Sun Belt) at the HTC Center in Conway, S.C. Texas State will conclude its trip with an 11:30 a.m. CT match Oct. 27 vs. Appalachian State (9-12, 5-3 Sun Belt) at the Holmes Center in Boone, N.C.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
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SETTING THE SCENE
• Texas State enters the weekend on a six-match winning streak after putting together impressive wins last weekend vs. Troy (3-0) and South Alabama (3-1) at Strahan Arena. 
• TXST sits atop the West Division of the Sun Belt Conference with an 8-1 record and No. 2 overall behind Coastal Carolina (8-0).
• The Bobcats continue to make leaps in the RPI rankings and are now No. 43, nine spots ahead of last weekend's rankings. Texas State ranks inside the top 50 in all of Division I volleyball in team service aces (134, No. 24) aces per set (1.68/set, No. 33), and opponent hitting percentage (.166, No. 35).   
• In conference-only matches, the Bobcat lead the league in hitting percentage (.306), opponent hitting percentage (.108), and blocks (2.29/set). They also rank toward the top of the league in aces (2.13/set, No. 2), kills (13.674/set, No. 2), assists (12.26/set, No. 5), and digs (15.29/set, No. 6).
• Senior outside hitter Cheyenne Huskey paces the team with 3.47 kills per set (No. 5 in the Sun Belt) and 0.53 aces per set (No. 2 in the Sun Belt; 42 total). She also adds 2.22 digs per set and has 43 total blocks. Huskey's 0.53 aces per set rank No. 11 in all of Division I volleyball players and her 42 total aces rank No. 10 in DI volleyball.
• Sophomore outside Janell Fitzgerald is second on the team with 2.80 kills per set and has 40 total blocks. Fitzgerald leads the league with a .380 hitting percentage in conference-only matches and ranks No. 9 with 3.20 kills per set.
• Junior middle blocker Tyeranee Scott leads the team with a .347 hitting percentage (No. 2 in the Sun Belt) and leads the conference with 1.10 blocks per set. Scott has 132 total kills and a team-high nine solo blocks.
• Sophomore setter Emily DeWalt averages 10.00 assists set which sits No. 4 in the Sun Belt and ranks No. 18 in all of DI volleyball with 790 total assists. She also breaks the top 10 of the conference with 0.34 aces per set (No. 10). DeWalt adds 2.32 digs per set, 51 kills, and 32 blocks to her season total. DeWalt was tabbed as the Sun Belt Conference Setter of the Week Monday (Oct. 21).
• Sophomore middle Jillian Slaughter is over the century mark with 111 total kills and has a .274 hitting percentage. She also has 63 blocks (eight solos), and three aces. In conference-only matches, Slaughter ranks No. 5 in the league with 1.03 blocks per set.
• Junior libero Brooke Johnson leads the club with 2.61 digs per set and has 63 assists and 12 aces this season. Senior DS Micah Dinwiddie has 2.17 digs per set and 18 aces in 2019. Dinwiddie is the program's all-time leader in digs with 1,652 total in her career.
 
SCOUTING COASTAL CAROLINA
• Coastal Carolina is on a conference-best eight-match winning streak with its last loss dating back to Sept. 21 vs. Lipscomb at the Cy-Hawk Series in Iowa City, Iowa.
• The Chanticleers are 3-0 at home this season and are coming off of a 3-0 victory vs. Appalachian State.
• CCU has a strong offense that leads the country with 2.23 aces per set and leads the conference with a .282 hitting percentage. They also rank No. 3 in the league in assists (12.01/set) and blocks (2.08/set), and rank No. 4 in kills (12.93/set) and opponent hitting percentage (.180). They are last with 12.5 digs per set.
• Sophomore outside hitter Anett Nemeth is the league's leader with 4.33 kills per set and is this week's Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Week. Nemeth is among the league's overall top performers as she hits .345 (No. 3 in the Sun Belt), and averages 0.42 aces per set (No. 5 in the Sun Belt). She also averages 1.88 digs per set and has 49 total blocks, including one solo.
• Junior middle hitter Kyla Manning is another offensive threat that ranks in the top 10 of the Sun Belt Conference in hitting percentage (.293, No. 9) and aces (0.37/set, No. 8) while adding 2.89 kills per set. Manning has also logged 24 total blocks, including a team-high 14 solo blocks.  
• Standout Freshman setter Brigitta Petrenko ranks No. 3 in the Sun Belt with 10.53 assists per set but leads the league with 43 total aces (0.58/set). Petrenko also has 48 kills and 21 blocks in 2019. She is this week's Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Week.
• Freshman libero Lina Perugini paces the team defense with 3.81 digs per set (No. 10 in the Sun Belt) and sophomore middle Christina Nance anchors the team with 64 total blocks (0.94). Perugini has eight aces on the year and Nance has registered 60 kills this season.
 
SCOUTING APPALACHIAN STATE
• After opening league play 5-0, Appalachian State has lost its last three matches with two of the losses coming at the hands of Coastal Carolina. App State has a 3-3 record as the home team.
• Overall, App State ranks No. 4 in the Sun Belt with 1.49 aces per set and No. 5 with 12.85 kills per set and 11.73 assists per set. Otherwise, the Mountaineers are towards the bottom half of the league in digs (14.87/set, No. 7), hitting percentage (.196, No. 8), opponent hitting percentage (.215, No. 11), and blocks (1.55/set, No. 11).
• Senior outside hitter Emma Longley leads the team with 4.05 kills per set (No. 3 in the Sun Belt). She also averages 2.27 digs per set and has 31 blocks (11 solos) and two aces this season.
• Junior middle blocker Kara Spicer also ranks in the top 10 of the league's leaders with 3.05 kills per set (No. 10), and her .337 hitting percentage that leads the team ranks No. 4 in the SBC. Spicer paces the team with 65 total blocks and adds 18 aces to her season totals.
• Freshman setter Sam Bickley averages 10.55 assists per set (No. 2 in the Sun Belt) and adds 1.91 digs per set, 34 kills, 27 blocks, and 13 aces.
• Junior libero Emma Reilly not only leads the conference with 4.91 digs per set, but she also paces the team with 0.52 aces per set (41 total) that ranks No. 3 in the league. Reilly also has 41 assists and seven kills.
  
 SERIES HISTORY
• The Bobcats are a combined 8-6 vs. Coastal Carolina and Appalachian State. TXST trails 2-3 in head-to-head meetings vs. CCU but are 6-3 all-time vs. App State.
• Texas State has won the last two regular-season meetings vs. Coastal Carolina including a 3-1 victory last season led by DeWalt's double-double performance (42 assists, 19 digs). DeWalt also had four kills and four blocks, while Huskey landed 11 kills in the match.
• The Bobcats have had the Mountaineers number and have won four consecutive matches, including the title match in the 2018 Sun Belt Conference Tournament (3-0). TXST has three consecutive sweeps vs. App State which include the match in 2017 at the Holmes Center.   
 
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