THE GAME
No. 15 Tarleton is set to host the Lone Star Conference Tournament after winning the conference regular season title for the second time in program history. The TexAnns will take on No. 8-seed Eastern New Mexico in the opening round of the tournament on Thursday, Nov. 16 at 7:30 p.m. in the Wisdom Volleyball Gym.
LSC TOURNAMENT
The eight-team, single-elimination tournament consists of four first-round matches on Thursday beginning at noon, followed by two semifinal games on Friday evening starting at 5 p.m. and the championship match on Saturday at 3 p.m. Teams will compete for the 2017 tournament championship. In addition to claiming the title, the LSC tournament winner will receive the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Division II Volleyball Championship. All seven games will be streamed live free of charge through the LSC's Tournament Central Page (TarletonSports.com/lscvbchampionship). There will be a live radio broadcast on the Tarleton Sports Network 90.5 FM or online at TarletonSports.com/ListenLive.
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for non-Lone Star Conference affiliated students. All students from participating Lone Star Conference schools and children ages five and under will be admitted free for the tournament. Tournament passes are also available at $15 for adults and $10 for non-LSC students. Tickets will be sold by session. The Tarleton Ticket Office is open from 1:30-4 p.m. in the main lobby of Wisdom Gym and can be reached by telephone at 254-968-1832. Cash and cards are accepted. Purchases can also be made online by visiting PayK12.com.
TARLETON'S PATH
The TexAnns are the No. 1 seed in the tournament and will open the event against Eastern New Mexico at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. With a win, the TexAnns will advance to the semifinal round for a showdown against either (4) Texas A&M-Kingsville or (5) West Texas A&M on Friday at 6 p.m. The Championship is set for 3 p.m. Saturday against the winner of the opposite side of the bracket that includes (2) Texas A&M-Commerce, (3) Angelo State, (6) Texas Woman's and (7) Western New Mexico.
LSC CHAMPS
Tarleton earned the right to host and the No. 1 seed after going 26-5 on the year and 18-2 in the Lone Star Conference. The TexAnns went 14-0 at home this season and have won 22 straight home matches dating back to last season. The TexAnns won a program-record 15 straight matches this season and head into the tournament with a 4-game winning streak.
REGIONAL RANKINGS
Tarleton enters the LSC Tournament ranked No. 2 in the South Central Regional rankings. The TexAnns trail only Regis in the poll and are sitting ahead of Colorado Mines (3), Angelo State (4), and Metro State (5) in the top five. Rounding out the bottom half of the poll is Arkansas-Fort Smith (6), Texas A&M-Commerce (7), West Texas A&M (8), Texas A&M-Kingsville (9) and Colorado Mesa (10). The top eight teams in the regional rankings at the end of conference tournament championship weekend will advance to the NCAA postseason. The conference tournament champions are guaranteed an automatic berth into the playoffs, which could affect the rankings if a non-regionally ranked team wins their respective tournament and earned the berth. The regional tournament will be played at the home gym of the highest seed during the first weekend of December.
IN THE NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
Tarleton comes into the week at No. 15 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association national poll. The TexAnns have been ranked in every poll this season since opening the year at No. 25 and reaching a ranking as high as No. 11 last week. The TexAnns are the highest ranked team in the LSC with Angelo State coming in at No. 25.
CHASING HISTORY: THE DRIVE FOR 2405
Hailey Roberts enters the weekend with 2,319 career kills and is on the heels of the Lone Star Conference kills record, which has been held by Central Oklahoma's Alma Brahimaj since 2002. Brahimaj boasts 2,404 career kills during her 1999-02 tenure with the Broncos. She is 86 kills shy of breaking Brahimaj's record.
