The Teams: Tarleton Texans (4-5, 0-0 WAC) vs. Texas State Bobcats (2-7, 0-0 SBC); UTEP Miners (8-1, 0-0 C-USA); Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders (3-5, 0-0 SLC)
Where: Corpus Christi, TX
Facility: Dugan Wellness Center
Time: 3:30 p.m. CT (Fri.); 10:30 a.m. CT (Sat.); 3:30 p.m. CT (Sat.)
Streaming Platform: GoIslanders.com
 
TEXAN VOLLEYBALL MATCH DAY
Tarleton will head to the Texas gulf for three matches at the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders Classic beginning Friday against Texas State. The Texans and Bobcats will square off at 3:30 p.m. Tarleton will play two on Saturday against UTEP and the host Islanders at 10:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., respectively.
 
Live stats and video will be available throughout the weekend on https://team1sports.com/goislanders/.
 
ABOUT THE MATCHUP

• This weekend marks the first time this season that Tarleton has played a team with a prior series history, UTEP. The Texans and Miners met on the volleyball court on October 11, 1985 and the Miners won in straight sets.
• This will be the first meeting between Tarleton and either of the weekend's other opponents – Texas State and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
• Tarleton is in its second year of transition to NCAA Division I as a member of the Western Athletic Conference. The Texan Volleyball Team (17-16) is one of four team programs with a record of .500 or better through Division I transition so far, joining football (6-4), women's tennis (11-10), and men's basketball (10-10).

 
QUICK HITS

• As the Texans enter the fourth week of the regular season, they do so as the No. 4-ranked team in the Western Athletic Conference in team hit percentage. Tarleton is hitting .222 with 389 kills on 1,130 attempts with the third-fewest errors in the conference (138).
• Lorin McNeil has proven to be one of the elite blockers in the Western Athletic Conference. Through nine matches, McNeil leads the league in total blocks (36) and is third in the WAC in blocks per set (1.00).
• After recording 17 double-digit kill performances last spring, Lauren Kersey is picking up right where she left off. The senior leader leads the team with six double-digit kill performances through the first nine games and four of those included .300 hit percentages or higher. Trinity Vinzant (2), Carmen Kinsey (2), and Amber Strange (1) have the only other double-digit kill performances from Tarleton this season.
• As a team, Tarleton has hit .290 or higher in three of their last four matches with a season-high .400 hit percentage against St. Thomas. The Texans had 45 kills with a season-low seven errors on 95 swings against the Tommies. It was Tarleton's first .400 hit performance as a Division I program, the 18th such performance in program history, and the first since hitting .408 against Midwestern State on Oct. 26, 2018.
• Kayla Brannon has topped 30 assists four times this season. Her 37 assists against Stony Brook was the 28th 30-assist performance of her career. Tarleton is 20-8 when Brannon goes for 30 assists in a match in her career.
• Ana Costas has topped 20 digs three times this season and 11 times in her Tarleton career. The Texans are 7-4 when Costas records 20 or more digs and are 1-0 when she tops 30 in a match.

 
WAC UPDATES

• WAC-ESPN+ ENTERS THREE-YEAR PARTNERSHIP: Continuing a relationship that spans more than 31 years, the Western Athletic Conference and ESPN have announced a new multi-year, multi-platform media rights agreement that will see over 500 annual events on ESPN+ and the ESPN App.
• FOUR NEW MEMBERS, ONE ON THE WAY: Just a year after welcoming two schools to the league in Dixie State and Tarleton, the WAC has opened its arms once again by bringing in the 'Texas 4'group of Abilene Christian, Stephen F. Austin, Sam Houston, and Lamar. Tarleton will also bring in Southern Utah next year to grow by seven members over a three-year span.
• LEAGUE DIVISIONS: With the addition of the four Texas schools, the WAC has gone into two divisions for the first time since 2004. The Texans are a part of the Southwest Division that includes all six of the league's Texas schools – Tarleton, ACU, SFA, Sam Houston, Lamar, and UTRGV.
• OWNING THE LONE STAR STATE: With the addition of the four Texas schools, the WAC now boasts the largest presence of any conference in the nation at the NCAA Division I level in the state of Texas.

 
1,000-KILL CLUB
Amber Strange and Lauren Kersey have both eclipsed 1,000 career kills for their careers and will spend the rest of the season climbing Tarleton's all-time kill list. The complete top-10 list is as follows:
 

#	Player	Years	Kills
1.	Hailey Roberts	2014-17	2389
2.	Desiree Reed	2002-05	1545
3.	Sharon Lister	1996-99	1422
4.	Lacey Adkisson	2000-03	1355
5.	Missy Castro	2004-08	1276
6.	Belinda Hardee	1990-93	1261
7.	Kathy Buckler	1983-86	1194
8.	Stacie Murrah	2010-13	1117
9.	Amber Strange	2017-21	1108
10.	Marissa Galich	1995-98	1095
11.	Lauren Kersey	2018-21	1028

 
1,000-KILL TEAMMATES
Lauren Kersey joins Amber Strange in the Tarleton 1,000-kill club. They are the second set of teammates in program history to play together with over 1,000 kills. Previously, Marissa Galich and Sharon Lister at the end of the 1998 season were the only other 1,000-kill teammates to play together in program history.
 
2,000-ASSIST CLUB
Kayla Brannon is among the top-5 all-time in the Tarleton assist leaders. Last season, she reached the 2,000-assist mark on a kill from Lauren Kersey for the 30th point (16-14) of set three against Dixie State on March 9. Brannon is the sixth player in the Tarleton top-10 list in assists to have played under head coach Mary Schindler, who is also No. 9 on the list. She passed Christina Ortiz in the win over UC San Diego on the same day that she set up Lauren Kersey's 1,000th career kill. The complete top-10 list is as follows:
 

#	School	League	Wins
1.	Danielle Barker	2010-13	3324
2.	Jessie Hartman	2008-11	3266
3.	Jordyn Keamo	2016-17	2404
4.	Kayla Brannon	2018-21	2395
5.	Christina Ortiz	2005-06	2313
6.	Didi Ebert	1997-98	2131
7.	Chandler Gow	2014-17	2020

 
NOTABLES

• SUPER SENIOR SEASON: The spring semester did not count as a season of eligibility for student-athletes around the country. Amber Strange and Natalya Chatham have been given the opportunity to return for an additional season of competition.
• WHAT THEY'RE SAYING – PROGRAM ON THE RISE: On July 6 in the El Paso Herald-Post, UTEP head coach Ben Wallis said the following about the Tarleton Volleyball program: "Tarleton State is a program on the rise who had significant wins last season and has had a long run of successful seasons under its head coach Mary Schindler."
• ALL-WAC KERSEY: Since joining the Western Athletic Conference in 2020, Lauren Kersey has been a mainstay on the All-WAC teams. The senior from Norman, Oklahoma was an All-WAC First Team selection following the spring season and is a Preseason All-WAC selection this fall.
• HALI'A SHINES IN FIRST FULL-SEASON: Hali'a Swartman-Hogan came to Tarleton as a graduate transfer from the University of Oklahoma ahead of last season and did not disappoint in her first full season of competition. After overcoming adversity with an injury at OU, Hogan was a reserve for the Sooners before graduating with her undergrad degree. She came to Tarleton and played in 57 sets for the Texans last spring and was among the top four on the team in points (141.5) and kills (120). She enjoyed a career performance against former Big XII rival, TCU, with 19 kills on a .341 hit percentage on Feb. 25 in Stephenville.
• RHODES MAKES AN IMPACT: Brianna Rhodes earned her first start in the middle for Tarleton against UC San Diego and made an immediate impact. Rhodes recorded nine kills on a .421 hit percentage with a block as Tarleton defeated the Tritons.
• NO PLACE LIKE HOME: Tarleton has been racking up the frequent flyer miles through the first three weeks of the season. The Texans have gone from Stephenville to Miami to New York and California for tournament action. Tarleton has traveled 9,512 miles over the last three weeks but will now be playing in the state of Texas for the remainder of the season, beginning this weekend in Corpus Christi.

 
UP NEXT FOR TARLETON
Tarleton will head south once again for two final matches before beginning WAC play. The Texans will visit Incarnate Word and Texas Southern next Wednesday and Thursday at 6 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively.