The Teams: Tarleton Texans (10-10, 2-4 WAC) vs Texas A&M-Commerce (6-14, 3-4 SLC);
vs Grand Canyon (9-7, 3-2 WAC); vs California Baptist (7-9, 2-3 WAC)
Where: Stephenville, Texas
Venue: Wisdom Volleyball Gym
Times: Tuesday, 6 p.m. CT; Thursday, 6 p.m. CT; Saturday, 1 p.m. CT
Streaming Platform: ESPN+

TEXAN VOLLEYBALL MATCH DAY
 
The coming week will be full of volleyball in Stephenville. The Texan volleyball team has three matches in Wisdom Gym with Texas A&M-Commerce on Tuesday, Grand Canyon on Thursday and California Baptist on Saturday making up the slate.
 
Tuesday brings a pink out vs. Commerce, where pink bracelets will be given out to plans as October is breast cancer awareness month. Thursday vs. GCU will be 'Purple Thursday' and the fan that is at the match with the most spirited attire will win a prize.
 
The Texans look to build off two straight WAC wins and can use all the help that Texan Nation can provide from the stands.
 
MATCHUP NOTES
• Tarleton returns to Wisdom Gym for three matches this week after going to Utah and picking up its first two WAC wins over Utah Tech and Southern Utah last week.
• The Texans will be playing A&M-Commerce with both teams as D1 schools for the first time. Tarleton is 17-9 all time vs. the Lions. The last meeting between the teams was Oct. 25, 2019, in  Stephenville with the Lions winning 3-1. Tarleton is 10-3 all-time at home vs. the Lions and 6-4 on the road.
• Tarleton is 0-2 all time vs. Grand Canyon. They took on the Lopes twice on back-to-back days in the spring 2021 season in Phoenix. GCU won 3-0 on Jan. 25, 2021, and 3-1 on Jan. 26, 2021.
• Tarleton is 0-3 all time vs. California Baptist. They played back-to-back matches on Feb. 1-2, 2021, with CBU winning 3-0 and 3-1 in Wisdom Gym. The next match came in the 2021 season on Oct. 22 in Abilene with the Lancers winning 3-1.
 
QUICK HITS
 
• Tarleton saw the return of Megan Haynes and Grayson Schirpik together to its lineup for the first time since set one at SFA in the first WAC match of the season. The return of the two starters was big as Tarleton won its first two WAC matches of the season as Schirpik led at Utah Tech with 14 kills and 9 digs and Haynes led with 20 kills, a career-high, at Southern Utah.
• As mentioned previously, Megan Haynes had an impressive week in Utah. The sophomore outside hitter tallied 13 kills at Utah Tech and a career-high 20 killls at Southern Utah on. 318 hitting. It was her ninth straight double-digit kill match and fifth in a row.
• As a team, the Texans hit .248 vs. Utah Tech and .304 vs. Southern Utah. Tarleton is 4-0 when they hit over .300 as a team. They landed 71 kills in the win over Southern Utah which was also a seaaon high.
• The 3-2 win on Saturday over Southern Utah was Tarleton's first match that went to five sets of the season.
•  As a team in the WAC, Tarleton ranks sixth in hitting percentage (.207), sixth in assists/set (11.64), eighth in blocks/set (1.94), third in service aces/set (1.63) and sixth in kills/set (12.49) out of 13 teams.
• The Texans were 0-4 on the road prior to last week when they won at Utah Tech and at Southern Utah and got the monkey off their back.
• Breanna McDonough was named WAC Freshman of the Week on Monday after she landed a career-high 14 kills on.357 hitting at Southern Utah and 11 kills on .500 hitting at Utah Tech. It was Tarleton's third WAC POTW honor after Ailie Hair won two back-to-back to kick the season off.
• Senior defensive specialist Emma Halcmob has carved out a role on the back line as the season has gone on. She has posted three double-digit dig matches in the last four.

NOTABLES
 
New Texans on the Block
 
All six freshmen for Tarleton have seen the court this season, with most of them playing a big part in the Texans' early season success. At times the Texans have had five true freshmen on the court at one time.
 
Ailie Hair sits second in the WAC with a .362 hitting percentage. Hair leads the Texans in blocks (67), hitting percentage (.362) and service aces (26). She has garnered two WAC Freshman of the Week honors and has five matches with double-digit kills as a middle blocker.
Emma Burke is second on the team behind Hair with 39 blocks this season. She has appeared in 19 of 20 matches as a middle blocker and landed a career-high 11 kills vs. SFA in Wisdom Gym on Sept. 29. One of Burke's more impressive matches came at Northern Colorado when she totaled a career-high seven blocks to go with four kills on seven attacks.
Megan Hodges has been Tarleton's primary setter for the whole season. She leads the team with 483 assists and ranks eighth in the WAC with 6.71 assists per set. She also has added 133 digs on the year which is good for second on the team. In six conference games, Hodges has posted 36,43, 39, 28, 26 and 37 assists.
Breanna McDonough has factored heavily into the rotation, seeing time in all 20 matches as a right side. She ranks second on the team with 166 kills and has six matches of double-digit kills. She won WAC Freshman of the Week on Oct. 10 after posting a career-high 14 kills on .357 hitting vs. Southern Utah.
Joselyn Roberson has seen more playing time as the season has progressed. The outside hitter now has two matches with double digit kills. Overall, she has landed 10 kills vs. FAU, nine at SFA and a career-high 12 vs. UTRGV.
 
WAC Awards
Freshman middle blocker Ailie Hair took home WAC Freshman of the Week honors in both week one and week two of the season. She currently holds a .366 hitting percentage and has a team-high 58 blocks.
Freshman right side Breanna McDonough was named the WAC Freshman of the Week on Oct. 10 after she posted a career-high 14 kills in a win over Southern Utah the week prior.
 
Returning Digs Leader
Ana Costas (DS) led the Texans a season ago with 371 digs and 4.47 digs per set.  The 4.47 digs per set was good for fourth in the WAC. She plays a critical part for the team and as Coach Schindler noted, "is a fierce competitor." This season she once again leads Tarleton with 284 digs and has posted 15+ digs in 10 matches.
 
Three Hundred Fifty
Tarleton head coach Mary Schindler reached another milestone on Friday, Sept. 2, when Tarleton swept Tennessee State. The win gave Schindler 350 career wins, all while coaching at Tarleton.
 
Conference Tourney Time
The WAC approved reclassifying institutions to participate in all conference championships as early as this fall. This approval grants rights only for sports to compete in postseason conference play, not national postseason. The top 8 teams in the WAC move on to the conference tournament and this season Tarleton will be able to compete.
 
WAC Preseason Poll
Tarleton was picked to finish tied ninth out of 12 in the Western Athletic Conference. With 50 points, the Texans were picked behind league newcomer UT Arlington (54) and tied with Utah Tech (50). NM State was picked to win the league and Tarleton will travel to Las Cruces on Nov. 10.
 
WAC Awards
Freshman middle blocker Ailie Hair took home WAC freshman of the week honors in both week one and week two of the season. She currently holds a .366 hitting percentage and has a team-high 58 blocks.
 
New WAC Scheduling
This season the WAC has scrapped divisions completely after having a West and Southwest Division in 2021. The 13 teams from across the conference will play each other in preparation for the WAC Volleyball Tournament that will be held at the UTRGV Fieldhouse in Edinburg. The top 8 teams play in the conference tournament.
 
Conference Standings
 

 
UP NEXT FOR TARLETON
After three matches at home this week for Tarleton, they turn their attention to Abilene as they head west to take on the Abilene Christian Wildcats on Oct. 22 at Moody Coliseum. The match will be streamed on ESPN+.