SAN MARCOS, Texas — The Texas State volleyball program will do battle against the top team in the Sun Belt Conference's East Division as part of a two-game swing across foes from across the divisional line when the Bobcats host Coastal Carolina and App State this weekend.
Texas State's showdown against Coastal Carolina will start at 6 p.m. CT on Friday, Oct. 22. The Bobcats will then return to the floor twenty-four hours later when they closeout the weekend against Appalachian State. Of the two volleyball matches this weekend, only the Texas State's match against the Mountaineers will be streamed on ESPN+.
LOOKING AT THE BOBCATS
Texas State (10-11, 6-2) heads into this weekend's two conference volleyball matches as the only team in the league with multiple student-athletes ranked in the top 10 in total points among Sun Belt Conference teams.
Jada Gardner is sixth in the conference with 254 points (223 kills, 14 service aces, two solo blocks and 30 block assists), while
Janell Fitzgerald is ninth with 204 points (180 kills, five service aces, four solo blocks and 30 block assists).
Earlier in the week,
Janell Fitzgerald earned her second straight Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Week in as many weeks. Fitzgerald's accomplishment marks the first time the Bobcats have had back-to-back conference offensive player of the week since Amy Plughaupt (Sept. 10) and Cheyenne Huskey (Sept. 17) during the 2018 season. She became the first Bobcat volleyball student-athlete to accomplish the feat herself since Lawrencia Brown did so on Aug. 28 and Sept. 4, 2006, while Texas State was a member of the Southland Conference.
Tyeranee Scott and
Emily DeWalt enter the weekend on the verge of career milestones. Scott, the Bobcats' senior middle blocker, needs three total blocks to surpass 400 career total blocks. DeWalt needs only two assists to become just the fourth student-athlete in program history to be credited with 4,400-or-more assists.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Coastal Carolina (14-4, 8-0) comes to San Marcos as the lone remaining undefeated volleyball program in Sun Belt action this season. The Chanticleers enter Friday night's match against the Bobcats with an 8-0 record in conference play. Coastal Carolina has earned wins over Little Rock (three sets), Arkansas State (four), Georgia Southern (four), Georgia State (five), Troy (three), South Alabama (four), ULM (three and Louisiana (five).
App State (7-13, 3-5) enters the weekend on a two-match winning streak after taking six of a possible seven sets against Louisiana and ULM last weekend. The Mountaineers opened last weekend with a four-set win against Louisiana in Boone, N.C., before sweeping ULM two days later. App State also has a five-set win over Georgia State to round out its conference victories so far this season.
This weekend will provide a difference in opponent hitting percentage for Texas State. Coastal Carolina enters the weekend with a .240 hitting percentage in 66 sets played — .001 percentage point shy of Louisiana for the top spot in the Sun Belt Conference — while App State is at the bottom of the standings with a .136 hitting percentage through 77 sets played.
SERIES HISTORY
The series history between Coastal Carolina and Texas State only started on Sept. 30, 2016, but four of the eight matchups have come during the Sun Belt Conference tournament. The Bobcats lead the all-time series 5-3 heading into this weekend's match. Only one of the eight matches have been finished in three sets: TXST earned the win on Oct. 1, 2017, at Conway, S.C.
Like Coastal Carolina, the Bobcats' series history with Appalachian State is rather short as the Mountaineers only moved up the FBS ranks prior to the 2014 season. Texas State holds a 7-3 all-time mark against App State with wins coming in the last five straight matches. TXST has never lost to the Mountaineers in San Marcos.
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