FOLEY, Ala. — It's that time of the year, again. It's time for the Sun Belt Conference's postseason volleyball tournament and the Texas State volleyball program will open play on Friday, Nov. 18 at 7:30 p.m. CT against either Louisiana or App State. 

Texas State earned the top seed out of the league's West Division after posting an 11-1 record against its divisional foes. Troy was second in the division with an 8-4 mark and held the tiebreaker over South Alabama. As a result of the Bobcats' success throughout the season, Texas State received a double-bye into the quarterfinals and will need to win only three matches to win its fifth league tournament championship. 

Louisiana (14-11, 8-8) finished with a 6-6 divisional record and earned the fifth seed out of the West, while App State (19-9, 11-5) capped the regular season by winning 11 of its last 12 match en route to being selected as the fourth seed in the East. 

All matches of the 2022 Sun Belt Conference Championship will be available to stream on ESPN+. 

JUST ONE MORE TIME BEFORE I GO, I'LL LET YOU KNOW

• Since debuting for the Texas State volleyball program in the 2018 season, the foursome of Jillian Slaughter, Janell Fitzgerald, Emily DeWalt and Lauren Teske are 10-1 in the Sun Belt's postseason conference tournament. 
  • 2018: 3-1 (Little Rock), 3-0 (App State)
  • 2019: 3-0 (Troy), 3-1 (Coastal Carolina)
  • 2020: 3-0 (ULM), 3-0 (South Alabama), 3-1 (Troy), 3-2 (Coastal Carolina)
  • 2021: 3-0 (Troy), 3-0 (Coastal Carolina), 0-3 (South Alabama)
• Slaughter, Fitzgerald, DeWalt and Teske are looking for their fourth conference tournament championship.  

THAT ALL THIS TIME I'VE BEEN AFRAID, WOULDN'T LET IT SHOW

• The Texas State volleyball program has won at least one Sun Belt Conference postseason tournament match since joining the league prior to the 2013 season. 
  • In total, the Bobcats are 18-5 in the league's postseason volleyball tournament. 
  • Texas State has won four Sun Belt Conference Tournament Championships: 2013, 2018, 2019 and 2020. 
    • Last season, the Bobcats were on the verge of becoming the first team in league history to win four consecutive postseason tournament championships before falling to South Alabama in the final match. 
  • The Bobcats will travel to the Yellowhammer State looking to appear in their sixth consecutive conference championship match. 
    • 10 of the 21-member 2022 Texas State volleyball program has played in a conference tournament championship match. 
      • Jada Gardner, Janell Fitzgerald, Emily DeWalt, Tessa Marshall, Caitlan Buettner, Ryann Torres, Lauren Teske, Courtney Heiser, Jacqueline Lee and Jillian Slaughter.

NOBODY CAN SAVE ME NOW, NO

• Texas State will be the last team in the league to play a match in this season's postseason conference tournament when the Bobcats take the court at 7:30 p.m. CT on Friday, Nov. 18. 
  • Texas State will either open play against Louisiana or App State, which play at 7:30 p.m. CT on Thursday, Nov. 17. 
    • Texas State earned a pair of road wins against Louisiana earlier this season as the Bobcats knocked off the Ragin' Cajuns, 3-0, on Friday, Oct. 7 and Saturday, Oct. 8. 
      • In the Bobcats win on Saturday, Oct. 8, fifth-year senior Emily DeWalt passed Kristy Braun (1991-94) to become Texas State's new all-time career assist leader. 
    • Texas State did not play App State during the 2022 regular season. 
      • The last time the Bobcats matched up with the Mountaineers, Texas State won a four-set match in San Marcos on Oct. 23, 2021. 
    • Texas State is 2-0, all time, against Louisiana in the Sun Belt's postseason conference tournament and 1-1 against App State. 

NOBODY CAN SAVE ME NOW

• The Texas State volleyball program will enter the 2022 Sun Belt Conference Volleyball Championship leading the league in seven different statistical categories: 
  • Assists Per Set, Individual – 10.97, Emily DeWalt
  • Total Assists, Individual – 1,163, Emily DeWalt
  • Team Kills – 1,493
  • Team Assists – 1,401
  • Kills Per Set – 14.08
  • Hitting Percentage – 0.289
  • Assists Per Set – 13.22

STARS ARE ONLY VISIBLE IN DARKNESS

• Texas State will feature one of — if not — the brightest stars in the league in Emily DeWalt after the Bobcats' fifth-year setter was selected as the league's Setter of the Year for the fifth consecutive occasions earlier this week.
• Additionally, DeWalt was chosen by the conference's head coaches as the Sun Belt Conference's Player of the Year for the second straight season. 
  • She is the only student-athlete in program history to have won the award, let alone on two occasions. 
• DeWalt is also a five-time All-Sun Belt First-Team selection. 
• When DeWalt has appeared in at least one set for the Bobcats since the 2018 season, Texas State is 120-39 (.754).
  • Under third-year head coach Sean Huiet, Texas State is 69-23 (.750) when DeWalt plays at least one set in a match. 

FEAR IS EVER-CHANGING AND EVOLVING

• The Texas State offense will enter this weekend's postseason conference tournament with two active student-athletes who have surpassed the 1,000-career kill plateau: Jada Gardner and Janell Fitzgerald. 
  • Fitzgerald, who was named the Sun Belt's Offensive Player of the Year for the second straight season earlier this week, travels to Alabama as the program's all-time career kills leader with 1,789 after being credited with 404 kills on a .303 attack percentage during the 2022 regular season. 
    • It marked the second time in her five-year career Fitzgerald has surpassed 400 kills in a single season. 
      • 2020-21: 483 kills on a .305 attack percentage
      • 2022: 404 kills on a .303 attack percentage. 
  • Gardner, who is in her second season as a Bobcat after spending the first four years of her collegiate volleyball career at Maryland, was credited with her 1,000th career collegiate kill during a season-high 22-kill performance at Coastal Carolina in the final weekend of the regular season. 
    • In 175 sets played throughout 54 matches in two seasons as a Bobcat, Gardner has been credited with 553 of her 1,026 career collegiate kills. 

AND I, I'VE BEEN POISONED INSIDE

• Texas State is the only team in the league to have knocked off the conference's regular-season champion, James Madison, during the regular season. 
  • On Saturday, Oct. 1, Texas State beat James Madison in four sets (25-17, 25-21, 23-25, 25-12) as four student-athletes recorded double-figure kills — Lauren Teske (18), Caitlan Buettner (15), Janell Fitzgerald (11) and Tessa Marshall (10) — as the Bobcats finished the match with a .353 attack percentage. 
    • Emily DeWalt finished the four-set match with 52 assists. 

BUT I, I FEEL SO ALIVE

• For the latest information on the team, follow @TexasStateVball on Twitter, @TxStateVolleyball on Instagram and Facebook. General athletic news can also be at @TxStateBobcats on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.