SAN MARCOS, TX — For the first time since Sunday, Sept. 11, the Texas State volleyball program will play a regular-season match inside Strahan Arena, where the Bobcats will host James Madison for a two-match tilt this weekend. 

Action between the Sun Belt's West Division leader Texas State (10-4, 2-0) and Sun Belt's East Division leader James Madison (8-3, 2-0) begins at 6 p.m. CT / 7 p.m. ET on Friday, Sept. 30. The two programs will conclude the slate less than 18 hours later when Saturday's match is scheduled for 12 p.m. CT / 11 a.m. ET on Saturday, Oct. 1. 

Both matches between the Bobcats and Dukes will be available to stream on ESPN+ as Brant Freeman and Mick Haley will call the action. 

REVVIN' UP YOUR ENGINE

• Friday night will mark the first-ever volleyball match between Texas State and James Madison while both programs are members of the Sun Belt Conference. 
• The two programs last played on August 31, 2018, when Texas State won in four sets (25-14, 25-12, 16-25, 26-24) in San Marcos. 
• Texas State is leading the all-time series over James Madison, 3-0. Of those three matches, the Bobcats have beaten the Dukes twice inside Strahan Arena. 
• The Dukes have won only one set against the Bobcats: the third set of a four-set match on August 31, 2018. 
• Texas State and James Madison first met on Sept. 3, 1993, when the Bobcats won in three sets: 15-2, 15-7 and 15-9. 
• Jillian Slaughter, Emily DeWalt and Janell Fitzgerald are the only active Texas State student-athletes to have played a volleyball match against James Madison. 
  • In the match against the Dukes on August 31, 2018, Slaughter, in just her fourth career collegiate volleyball match, set a career high with eight total blocks (one solo, seven assists), while DeWalt finished with a 39-assist, 10-dig double-double (her second career double-double at the time) and Fitzgerald finished the match with 10 kills, which were a then-career high for the outside hitter. 

LISTEN TO HER HOWLIN' ROAR

• Texas State head coach Sean Huiet has coaching in 86 career collegiate volleyball matches throughout his three seasons at the helm of the Bobcat program. 
• During those three seasons, Huiet has earned a 61-25 (.709%) overall coaching record. His 61 wins are the second most by a Texas State volleyball head coach through their first 86 career matches. Only Susan Duke has won more games as the head coach of the Texas State volleyball program through this point of their coaching career when Duke won 65 games (65-21; .755%) in three seasons from 1970 to 1972. 

Texas State volleyball head coach wins through first 86 games:

1. Susan Duke, 1970 – 72: 65 (65-21)
2. Sean Huiet, 2020 – Present: 61 (61-25)
3. Karen Chisum, 1980 – 2019: 49 (49-34-3)
4. Chris Mayhew, 1977 – 79: 35 (35-47-4)

*Patti Barrett (1973-75) and Karen Fredenburg (1976) did not reach 86 career games.

METAL UNDER TENSION

• Heading into this weekend's two-match series against James Madison, the Texas State volleyball program leads the Sun Belt Conference in attack percentage (.303), assists per set (13.06) and kills per set (13.92).
• The Bobcats are currently the only team in the conference to have an attack percentage over .300: 682 kills and only 205 attack errors on 1,575 total attacks throughout 49 sets played. 
  • James Madison is the conference team with the next closest attack percentage to Texas State's. The Dukes have a .256 mark with 496 kills and 173 attack errors on 1,261 total attacks in only 40 sets played.
  • Additionally, JMU ranks eighth in assists per set (11.20) and sixth in kills per set (12.40). 

BEGGIN' YOU TO TOUCH AND GO

• Following her 89-assist performance during Texas State's two-match sweep at ULM last weekend, Bobcat setter Emily DeWalt, again, climbed up the Sun Belt career assist leaderboard:

Sun Belt Career Assist Leaderboard

1. Leslie Clark, MT (2006-09) – 5,692
2. Sarah Oesterling, LT (1993-96) – 5,371
3. Emily DeWalt, TXST (2018-P) – 5,335

HIGHWAY TO THE DANGER ZONE

• Like DeWalt, Texas State outside hitter Janell Fitzgerald is quickly moving up the Bobcats' career kills leaderboard:

Texas State Career Kills Leaderboard

1. Makeda Smith (1994-98) – 1,709
2. Lawrencia Brown (2005-08) – 1,557
3. Janell Fitzgerald, (2018-P) – 1,555

RIDE INTO THE DANGER ZONE

• Per JMU historical records, in 1947, James Madison's first men's basketball team was formed, and the student-athletes chose the nickname "The Dukes" in honor of then-James Madison President Samuel P. Duke. The student-athletes told President Duke they would do that if he provided towels and equipment for the team. 
  • James Madison is believed to be the only college or university to have its athletic teams nickname drawn from their school's president. 
• Current Duke University men's basketball head coach Jon Scheyer (August 24, 1987) was not born when Kenny Loggins' released the best-selling soundtrack in 1986, "Danger Zone."

HEADIN' INTO TWILIGHT

• With 26 more digs, Texas State setter Emily DeWalt will become just the fifth student-athlete in program history to reach 1,400 career digs.
• DeWalt is the only Texas State student-athlete in program history with over 5,300 career assists and 1,350 career digs. 
  • DeWalt and Nicky Rose (1995-98) are the only two student-athletes in program history with over 5,000 career assists and 1,300 career digs. 

Texas State Career Digs Leaderboard

1. Micah Dinwiddie (2016-19) – 1,716
2. Sierra Smith (2012-15) – 1,646
3. Nicky Rose (1995-98) – 1,434
4. Shauna Stahl (1997-01) – 1,409
5. Emily DeWalt (2018-P) – 1,374

 SPREADIN' OUT HER WINGS TONIGHT

• Texas State is looking for its first 3-0 start to Sun Belt action since the 2020 season, when the Bobcats won the Sun Belt Championship. 
• Beginning Sun Belt action in 2013, Texas State has started conference play 3-0 on four different occasions: 2014, 2015, 2018 and 2020. 
  • In those seasons, the Bobcats have gone on to win the conference championship twice — 2018, 2020 — while also appearing in the championship match in 2015. 

SHE GOT YOU JUMPIN' OFF THE DECK

• Texas State will enter this weekend's two-match series against James Madison with 12 student-athletes having been credited with at least 1.0 block so far this season. 
• Of those 12, six have at least double-digit blocks with senior middle blocker Jillian Slaughter leading the way with 43.0, while Tessa Marshall has 34.0. 

Texas State Total Block Leaderboard

1. Jillian Slaughter, 43.0 (7 – BS, 36 BA)
2. Tessa Marshall, 34.0 (3 BS, 31 BA)
3. Janell Fitzgerald, 24.0 (4 BS, 20 BA)
4. Caitlan Buettner, 20.0 (2 BS, 18 BA)
5. Jada Gardner, 12.0 (2 BS, 18 BA)
6. Emily DeWalt, 11.0 (0 BS, 11 BA)

AND SHOVIN' INTO OVERDRIVE

• The Texas State volleyball program can be found near the top of several national statistical rankings.
  • As a program, the Bobcats are seventh in attack percentage (.303) and 15th in assists per set (13.06). Texas State is also 20th in kills per set with a 13.92 mark. 
  • Individually, Emily DeWalt ranks 15th in the country with a 10.71 assist per set clip, while Tessa Marshall is 19th in attack percentage at .403. 

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.