AT A GLANCE
Tarleton State University is opening the gates for Family Weekend in Stephenville and the No. 20-ranked volleyball team will welcome everyone to town with a pair of regional matches against conference rival Texas A&M-Kingsville and St. Mary's. The first match of the day will begin at 12 p.m. with the nightcap starting at 6 p.m. in Wisdom Gym.
A FULL DAY OF VOLLEYBALL
The doubleheader was not in the original schedule, but a recent change moved the St. Mary's match to Saturday. There will also be a neutral site match held in Wisdom Gym between the Rattlers and Javelinas starting at 2:30.
GAME DAY PROMOTIONS
Tarleton Athletics will welcome Steel City Pops to Wisdom Gym on Saturday to give away 300 free popsicles to fans while supplies last.
GAME COVERAGE
Live stats will be available for every game. The stat link can be found on the Tarleton Volleyball schedule page at TarletonSports.com. The match against Texas A&M-Kingsville can be seen free of charge at TarletonSports.com/ListenLive. Due to scheduling conflicts, there will not a video stream of the final two matches.
NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
Tarleton remained in the national top 20 by the American Volleyball Coaches Association for the second consecutive week. Tarleton is one of two Lone Star Conference schools in the top 25, joining Texas A&M-Commerce who fell from No. 23 to No. 25. Tarleton has been ranked in every poll since the final ranking of the 2016 season, which is 20 consecutive weeks in the national spotlight.
RECOGNIZING ROBERTS
Tarleton will recognize former All-American
Hailey Roberts at intermission of the match against Texas A&M-Kingsville for her Student-Athlete of the Year award. Roberts will be the first Tarleton athlete ever to be presented with the Student-Athlete of the Year award for her performance on an off the court in 2017-18.
ABOUT TARLETON
Tarleton enters the weekend leading the way in the Lone Star Conference standings with an 11-2 record overall and a 5-0 mark in the league. Tarleton is also the national leader in blocks per set (3.02) and the conference leader in hit percentage (.239).
Adriana Darthuy leads the team with 151 kills while
Hannah McManus, the defending two-time LSC Defensive Player of the Week, leads the team and conference with 1.38 blocks per set.
DIGGING FOR A MILESTONE
Adrianna Knutson, Tarleton's senior libero, is currently chasing down the all-time mark for digs at Tarleton State University. Knutson enters this weekend with 1,644 career digs and is 12 shy of tying
Emily Klein (1,656) for No. 2 in program history. She is 203 digs away from tying Shea McBrearty (1,847) for the all-time lead.
SERIES HISTORY: TEXAS A&M-KINGSVILLE
Saturday will mark the 51st all-time meeting between Tarleton and Texas A&M-Kingsville since the first meeting in 1985. The TexAnns hold the all-time series lead 29-21, including a 16-7 advantage in 23 games in Stephenville. Tarleton has won 12 of 13 against the Javelinas, in addition to 10 straight matches at home since the last loss in 2005.
SERIES HISTORY: ST. MARY'S
Saturday will be the 21st career match between Tarleton and St. Mary's since the series started in 1998. St. Mary's holds the all-time lead at 12-8, but the TexAnns have won four consecutive matches against the Rattlers. Tarleton is 4-3 against the Rattlers inside Wisdom Gym.
UP NEXT FOR TARLETON
Tarleton will have a Tuesday night match against regional rival Dallas Baptist at 7 p.m. in Wisdom Gym. It will be 'Greek Night' at the game as we recognize all of the on-campus fraternities and sororities at the match.
