SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State volleyball team will complete its longest stretch of road matches in the 2019 season Sept. 12-13 at the Texas A&M Invitational at Reed Arena in College Station, Texas.
 
The Bobcats (3-4) will serve as the season opener for Texas A&M (4-1) at 6 p.m. Sept. 12. The match vs. the Aggies will be streamed live on the SEC Network with Casey Richardson and Chelsea Reber on the call. TXST will close the weekend with a doubleheader on Sept. 13 starting with a 12:30 p.m. match vs. UT Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) who has a 4-3 record, followed by a 5 p.m. contest vs. Northwestern State (6-2). Live stats will be available for all matches.  
 
FOLLOW ALONG
Live Stream vs. Texas A&M – SEC Network Plus
Live Stats vs. Texas A&M - Statbroadcast
Live Stats vs. UT Rio Grande Valley - Statbroadcast
Live Stats vs. Northwestern State - Statbroadcast
 
 
SETTING THE SCENE
• Texas State is coming off a 2-1 weekend at the Mizuno Classic hosted by Long Beach State in Long Beach, Calif. At the tournament, the Bobcats opened with a five-set comeback win vs. Long Beach State, fell in three sets vs. UCLA, and picked up its first win in program history vs. Georgia in straight sets.
• Senior outside hitter Cheyenne Huskey and sophomore setter Emily DeWalt were named to the 2019 Mizuno Classic All-Tournament Team. Huskey totaled 35 kills in 11 sets (3.18 kills per set) and had eight aces in addition to 2.82 digs per set and five total blocks. DeWalt averaged 9.82 assists and 2.27 digs per set as well as tallying five blocks, four kills, and two aces.
• Huskey leads the team with 3.00 kills per set and has a team-best 10 aces this season. Freshman outside Courtney Heiser has 2.05 kills per set and sophomore outside Kenedi Rutherford rounds out the Bobcats' top hitter with 2.00 kills per set.
• DeWalt directs the offense with 8.83 assists per set and has 2.17 digs per set and six service aces in 2019. Senior Micah Dinwiddie is the team leader with 2.75 digs per set and six aces, and middle blockers junior Tyeranee Scott and sophomore Jillian Slaughter both have 13 blocks to pace TXST.
• Texas State's head coach Karen Chisum is in her 40th season at the helm of the program and is two wins shy from becoming the seventh coach in NCAA Division I volleyball to win 900 matches (898-554-3).
• Chisum ranks No. 3 among active NCAA Division I volleyball coaches in wins and No. 13 all-time across all NCAA Divisions.  
 
SCOUTING TEXAS A&M
• Texas A&M will have its home opener vs. Texas State and are currently on a three-match winning streak in 2019 and two-match winning streak inside Reed Arena dating back to last season. The Aggies are 4-1 this season.
• The Aggies participated in the Pepperdine Tournament in Malibu, Calif. last weekend where they won all three of their matches vs. Cal Baptist, Fairfield, and Pepperdine, respectively.
• Texas A&M averages 12.50 kills per set on a .262 hitting percentage while holding its opponents to a .194 clip in 2019. The Aggies also average 11.35 assists, 12.65 digs, and nearly two blocks per set in addition to the team's 33 aces.
• TAMU is led by senior outside hitter Hollann Hans' 2.74 kills per set and nine aces. Junior setter Camille Conner leads the team with 8.45 assists on average and ranks No. 2 on the team with 2.35 kills per set and eight aces. Freshman outside Lauren Davis rounds out the top Aggie hitters with 41 kills and also has nine blocks on the year. Sophomore middle blocker Mallory Talbert is the team leader at the net with 14 total blocks to go along with her 33 kills.
• In the most recent 3-1 victory over Pepperdine, Hans logged her 25th career double-double with the Aggies, accumulating 15 kills and 10 digs. She also tallied four blocks and one ace. Junior middle Makena Patterson hit .600 with a season-high 12 kills in the match while registering seven digs and three blocks, and Conner had a season-high with 42 assists. Conner also hit .333 with eight kills. Both Patterson and Conner was named to the Pepperdine All-Tournament Team.
 
SCOUTING UT RIO GRANDE VALLEY
• UTRGV is 4-3 overall and after winning four consecutive matches, the Vaqueros have dropped their last two.
• The Vaqueros are coming off a 1-2 showing at the UTSA Classic held in San Antonio last weekend. After overcoming Maryland in five sets, UTRGV was swept by both UTSA and Houston to conclude the tournament.
• UTRGV leads the Western Athletic Conference with 39 aces and 301 team assists. The mark in total assists also ranks No. 34 in all of Division I volleyball. The team hits .257 and averages 12.12 kills, 11.58 assists, 14.77 digs and 1.67 blocks per set.
• Sophomore outside hitter Sarah Cruz leads the team with 3.58 kills per set and also averages 2.12 digs per set. She also has 10 total blocks and is tied for a team-best nine aces. Senior right side Barbara Silva has a team-best .370 hitting percentage with 89 kills (3.42/set) and has 12 blocks, while junior middle Veronika Jandova ranks No. 3 on the team with 1.88 kills per sets, but paces the squad with 21 total blocks including seven solo blocks. She also matches Cruz's nine aces.
• Junior setter and captain Debora Nazario averages 9.58 assists and 2.65 digs per set with nine kills, seven aces and seven blocks. Junior libero Samaret Caraballo is the team leader in digs with 4.08 per set.
• In the UTSA Classic finale vs. Houston, Cruz led the team with 13 kills followed by Silva's 11 kills on .333 hitting, and Nazario handed out her third double-double with 30 assists and 11 digs. Caraballo led the team with 17 digs.
• The Vaqueros will face Northwestern State Sept. 12 before challenging the Bobcat at 12:30 p.m. Sept. 13.
 
SCOUTING NORTHWESTERN STATE
• Northwestern State enters the Texas A&M Invitation with the best record in the field standing at 6-2. The Demons had a four-match win streak earlier in the season and have swept four of their last five opponents.
• NSU played at the Jaguar Invitational in Mobile, Ala. last weekend where they went 2-1 with sweeps over Mississippi Valley State and Tennessee State, but fell in between those decisions to South Alabama, 3-1. The Demons also had a mid-week match where they swept Grambling at home this past Tuesday.   
• Junior outside hitter Hanna Brister is the team's leader with 5.24 kills per set and has six service aces. Brister also has 3.00 digs per set and six total blocks. Senior outside Alexis Warren is the clubs O2 with 3.10 kills per set and also has 2.65 digs per set, five blocks and four aces.
• The Demons play around with a 6-2 offense that has sophomore setter Skylar Besch leading the way with 5.91 assists per set and senior setter Cayman Sutton registers 4.63 assists per set. Freshman libero Haley Hoang has a team-high 12 aces and classmate middle blocker Reagan Lee is the team's anchor at the net with 18 blocks. Senior libero Megan Lohmiller is also at the top of the individual statistics leaderboard with 4.10 digs per set.
• Tuesday night's match vs. Grambling saw Brister lead all players with 13 kills and Hoang logged a match-high four aces. Besch had 24 helpers, Lohmiller had 17 digs and Lee had three blocks, all match highs.
• NSU will play its single-match Sept. 12 vs. UTRGV before playing at 10 a.m. on Sept. 13 vs. Texas A&M and then concluding the weekend at 5 p.m. vs. Texas State.
 
SERIES HISTORY
• The Bobcats are 6-25 all-time vs. the Aggies and are currently on a 15-match drought vs. Texas A&M. This will be the first meeting for both teams since 2012. The Bobcat's last win vs. the Aggies was in 1991 in five sets.
• Texas State has dominated the all-time series vs. UTRGV to this point with a 24-1 record. The Bobcats are winners of the last eight contests between the two clubs and the last time they faced off was in 2010.
• The Bobcats have also been in control of the all-time series vs. Northwestern State, posting a 38-2 record. These two teams last played each other in 2013 and the Bobcats are currently on a nine-match winning streak.
 
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