Courtesy: Texas State Athletics
SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State volleyball team returns home for a pair of matches against Appalachian State and powerhouse Coastal Carolina inside Strahan Arena.
First place in the Sun Belt Conference will be up for grabs when the the Bobcats (16-5, 7-0) welcome the Mountaineers (13-5, 5-1) at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 12, followed by a showdown against the undefeated Chanticleers (6-7, 5-0) at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 13.
TXST is currently riding an 11-match win streak, but CCU has won each of its last 19 matches against league opponents and owns a 40-2 record against Sun Belt opposition since joining the league in 2016. During those 42 matches, the Chanticleers have won 122 sets and surrendered just 28.
The Chanticleers have won the regular season and postseason titles in each of their first two years since joining the Sun Belt.
AMERICA’S LONGEST-TENURED STAFF
• The Texas State full-time coaching staff consists of head coach Karen Chisum, associate head coach Tracy Smith and assistant coach Sean Huiet.
• The trio has been at Texas State for a combined 69 years (39/17/13), a mark which is by far the highest in the nation for any coaching staff. The next closest is Bryant at just 52 years, while St. John’s and Northern Iowa are tied for third at 49 cumulative seasons.
A LOOK AT TEXAS STATE
• Texas State has posted a 16-5 record this season and is off to a 7-0 start in Sun Belt Conference action.
• The Bobcats are receiving 41 votes in the latest VolleyballMag.com Mid-Major Poll and sit just three spots shy of cracking the top 25.
• The maroon and gold won five consecutive matches earlier this year and is currently on a conference leading 11-match win streak.
• Statistically, TXST leads the Sun Belt in most wins overall (16), home wins (7), road wins (6), longest win streak (11), attack percentage (.263), assists per set (13.75) and kills per set (14.37), while ranking third in digs (15.63).
• Individually, Emily DeWalt leads the Sun Belt in double-doubles (14) and ranks third in assists (10.55). Tyeranee Scott is second in hitting percentage (.368), Madison Daigle is fifth in hitting percentage (.355) and seventh in blocks (1.06), Amy Pflughaupt is fifth in kills (3.19), Micah Dinwiddie is sixth in digs (3.84), and Cheyenne Huskey is seventh in kills (3.06).
• Texas State’s strength of schedule is currently ranked No. 49 in the nation. The next closest Sun Belt school is Coastal Carolina at No. 81, while Little Rock is third at No. 129.
• In her 39 years leading the Bobcats, Karen Chisum has 30 winning seasons and 24 campaigns with at least 20 victories. She is 10th in NCAA history in career wins (884).
A LOOK AT APPALACHIAN STATE
• The Mountaineers (13-5, 5-1 Sun Belt) are arguably the most dominant team in the conference at the moment, having won seven of their last eight matches overall.
• They most-recently took down Arkansas State in five sets and also own league wins over Louisiana, ULM and the two Georgia schools.
• App State leads the conference in aces (1.58), while sitting second in assists (13.09), kills (13.97) and opponent hitting percentage (.182). The team also ranks fourth in both hitting percentage (.227) and digs (15.35).
• The Mountaineers feature the top setter in the league in Becky Porter (10.94). Emma Reilly leads the Sun Belt in aces (0.43) and ranks third in digs (4.46), while Emma Longley is second in kills (3.80).
• The team was projected to finish third in the Sun Belt East Division this season.
• Texas State holds a narrow 4-3 lead in the all-time series after earning its first win in Boone last season. The last time Appalachian State traveled to San Marcos (Oct. 2, 2016), the two sides played a 15-13 five-set thriller that was won by the Bobcats.
A LOOK AT COASTAL CAROLINA
• The vaunted Chanticleers (6-7, 5-0 Sun Belt) are once again unblemished in league play so far this year.
• They will play UTA in Arlington the day before venturing to San Marcos.
• CCU’s league wins have come over Louisiana, ULM, Arkansas State, Little Rock and Georgia State.
• During conference play this season, the team is first in opponent hitting percentage (.133), aces (1.63) and digs (17.84), while ranking third in kills (12.89), and fifth in assists (12.11) and hitting percentage (.205).
• Anett Nemeth is the league’s top freshman so far this year, having already been named Sun Belt Freshman of the Week a conference-high four times. She ranks second in the league in aces (0.47), fourth in kills (3.74) and ninth in digs (4.05). Sydney Alvis – the reigning Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Week – is first in digs (5.16) and third in aces (0.42), Kyla Manning is third in kills (3.79) and Sara Boothe is sixth in assists (9.25).
• The Chanticleers were projected to yet again win the Sun Belt East Division. CCU has advanced to the NCAA Championship each of the last four years.
• Coastal Carolina leads the brief all-time series 3-1. The lone win for the Bobcats came in Conway last season, but CCU returned the favor in the finals of the 2017 Sun Belt Championship.
BATTLE TESTED
• Four of Texas State’s five setbacks this season have come against teams who are currently ranked in the AVCA Coaches Top 25 Poll (No. 4 Texas, No. 16 Kentucky, No. 19 Marquette, No. 24 Baylor).
• The fifth loss was to an LSU program that was receiving votes in the national poll.
• In 135 total non-conference matches, the rest of the Sun Belt Conference combined for just six against ranked opponents all season (Georgia Southern vs. Minnesota / Arkansas State vs. Creighton / Louisiana vs. USC and San Diego / South Alabama vs. Purdue and Alabama).
• The Bobcats own a win over Arizona State, who is currently ranked No. 25 in the nation. They have also defeated James Madison, who was ranked No. 13 in the VolleyballMag.com Mid-Major Poll, and Rice, who is currently ranked No. 23 in the same poll.
• Texas State competed against five opponents who hail from a Power 5 Conference (Big 12, Big Ten, ACC, SEC, Pac-12) during the non-conference portion of the season. That mark is also the highest of any Sun Belt school.
WHERE THEY STAND
• TXST is currently 7-0 in league play and has a three-match lead in the loss column over UTA and Little Rock in the Sun Belt West Division.
• If the season were to end today, Coastal Carolina and Texas State would win their respective divisions and earn double byes into the semifinals of the conference championship.
• Appalachian State and UTA would be the Nos. 3 and 4 seeds, respectively, and would begin play in the quarterfinals.
• The field is currently slated to be rounded out by Little Rock (No. 5), Georgia Southern (No. 6), Arkansas State (No. 7) and Louisiana (No. 8).
• Georgia State, South Alabama, Troy, and ULM are all currently on the outside looking in for a playoff berth.
THE LAST TIME OUT
• Texas State swept Georgia State (25-16, 25-14, 25-21) in Sun Belt Conference action on Oct. 6 inside GSU Sports Arena.
• The Bobcats earned their 11th victory in a row to equal their longest win streak since 2011.
• Cheyenne Huskey paced the maroon and gold with 10 kills, while Madison Daigle had nine kills and no errors on 12 attacks for a career-high .750 attack percentage. Emily DeWalt was two kills shy of a triple-double, finishing with 29 assists, 15 digs and eight kills.
• TXST led in kills (48-28), attack percentage (.366-.102), assists (47-27), digs (45-22), and blocks (7-6). GSU led in aces, 3-1.
• TXST has now won seven-consecutive matches over GSU and is 10-2 all-time in the series.
DeWALT NAMED AVCA NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
• Emily DeWalt was honored as the Sports Imports/AVCA Division I National Player of the Week on Oct. 2.
• The freshman setter became the first player in Texas State volleyball history to win the award. She’s also the fourth player in Sun Belt Conference history to be bestowed the honor, joining Western Kentucky’s Amanda Schiff (Nov. 10, 2003), Middle Tennessee State’s Ashley Adams (Sept. 6, 2005) and WKU’s Jordyn Skinner (Sept. 13, 2011).
• DeWalt helped Texas State collect home wins over Little Rock and Arkansas State.
• She had double-doubles in both matches, while averaging 14.00 assists per set (98) and 3.43 digs per set (24). She also added six kills, four aces and a block. She had 55 assists and 14 digs against LR and tallied 43 assists and 10 digs against A-State. Both assist totals were the most this season by a Sun Belt player in a three- and four-set match, respectively.
• DeWalt was both the first setter and the first freshman to win the national laurel this season. She was also named the Sun Belt Setter and Freshman of the Week for her performance.
• She is the only player from the Sun Belt to win a national award this season.
2018 CAREER-HIGH PERFORMANCES
Below is a list of all Bobcat returners who have registered new single-match career highs in 2018.
• Madison Daigle – 4 assists (UTSA), 6 digs (James Madison), .750 attack percentage (Georgia State)
• Micah Dinwiddie – 11 assists (Louisiana)
• Brooke Johnson – 4 aces (UTA)
• Tyeranee Scott – .900 attack percentage (Louisiana), 2 assists (UTA)
• Konner Wood – 3 assists (UTSA)
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