AT A GLANCE
Fresh off a sweep of the Lone Star Conference championships and its fourth consecutive appearance in the NCAA playoffs, No. 18 Tarleton Volleyball is back in action this weekend for four games in the friendly confines of Wisdom Gym for the annual Tarleton Invitational on Friday and Saturday.
 
THE GAMES
Tarleton will play host to Black Hills State (SD) for the season opener Friday at 12:30 p.m. before squaring off with Harding to close out the first day at 5:30 p.m. Then, the matches will continue on Saturday with an 11:30 a.m. showdown with Oklahoma Baptist and a 4:30 match-up of AVCA Top 20 teams when No. 18 Tarleton takes on No. 16 Central Oklahoma.
 
NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
Tarleton opens the season ranked No. 18 in the nation by the American Volleyball Coaches Association. They are the only Lone Star Conference team ranked in the top 25, but Angelo State and West Texas A&M are receiving votes. Tarleton has been ranked in every poll since the final ranking of the 2016 season.
 
MATCH DAY PROMOTIONS
There will be a free volleyball poster giveaway starting at 5 p.m. Friday, while supplies last. The team will stick around after the game and autograph the posters for the fans.
 
GAME COVERAGE
Live stats will be available for every game of the tournament. The stat links can be found at Tournament Central or on the Tarleton Volleyball schedule page at TarletonSports.com. All Tarleton Volleyball games will be streamed on the Tarleton Sports Network.
 
THE OPPONENT: BLACK HILLS STATE
The season opener will be the first-ever meeting between Tarleton and Black Hills State. BHSU is located in Spearfish, South Dakota and competes in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, making this a regional match for Tarleton.
 
THE OPPONENT: HARDING
Tarleton and Harding have met three times since the inaugural match in 1995. The TexAnns lead 2-1 in the all-time series, including a five-set win in the last meeting on Sept. 12, 2014.
 
THE OPPONENT: OKLAHOMA BAPTIST
The match will be the first-ever between Tarleton and Oklahoma Baptist. OBU is located in Shawnee, Oklahoma and compete in the Great American Conference.
 
THE OPPONENT: CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
Central Oklahoma is ranked No. 16 in the nation to open the season after going 29-6 last year. The Bronchos advanced to the first round of the NCAA tournament last season. The TexAnns are 5-14 all time against Central Oklahoma but won the last two matchups including last year's meeting in the Tarleton Invitational.
 
CHASING PROGRAM HISTORY
Tarleton begins the season three games below .500 (663-666) for the all-time record of the program. Led by 14^th year head coach Mary Schindler, the team can bring the program's all-time win-loss record back to even for the first time since 1978.
 
ALL-CONFERENCE RETURNERS
Tarleton returns five starters from last year's LSC championship team, including four all-conference players. Seniors Adrianna Knutson and Hannah McManus will step into the team's leadership role while Adriana Darthuy and Amber Strange look to build on impressive debut seasons for the purple and white. Knutson led the team with 535 digs last year to give her 1,416 in her career and comes into her final season chasing Shea McBrearty's all-time digs record of 1,847. She was an honorable mention all-conference libero in 2017. McManus and Strange return after starting every match in the middle last season and combining for 427 kills and 238 blocks while Darthuy was an all-conference second team player last year with 347 kills on a .220 hit percentage.
 
UP NEXT FOR TARLETON
Tarleton will head to St. George, Utah for another tournament at the home site of its newest regional rival, Dixie State. Tarleton will play four games at Dixie State, beginning Aug. 30 at 8 p.m. against the host Trailblazers.