The Teams: Tarleton Texans (11-12, 3-5 WAC) at Abilene Christian (5-15, 2-6 WAC)
Where: Abilene, Texas
Venue: Moody Coliseum
Times: Saturday, 1 p.m. CT
Streaming Platform: ESPN+

TEXAN VOLLEYBALL MATCH DAY
 
Tarleton volleyball returns to the court on Saturday in Abilene for a Western Athletic Conference match with Abilene Christian.
 
The Texans are playing for the first time since last Saturday when they defeated California Baptist 3-1 in Wisdom Gym behind 14 kills from Megan Haynes and 11 kills and .625 hitting from Ailie Hair.
 
Tarleton will be searching for its fifth straight victory over the Wildcats as well as its fourth WAC win of the season. The match will be streamed on ESPN+.
 
MATCHUP NOTES
• Tarleton heads to Abilene to take on ACU in its only match of the week. The Texans and Wildcats will square off in Moody Coliseum for the first time after ACU began play in the new venue this season.
• Based on Tarleton's records, the Texans and Wildcats have squared off a total of 16 times with ACU holding the 11-5 all-time advantage. Tarleton is currently on a four-match win streak, having won two in Abilene and two in Stephenville.
• The last match between the schools came on 10/30/2021 in Abilene as Tarleton swept ACU 3-0. Hali'a Swartman-Hogan paced the Texans with 14 kills while Lauren Kersey added 12 of her own.
• ACU fell to UTA in Arlington on Thursday in five sets. Prior to that match, the Wildcats took down Grand Canyon in five sets in Abilene. ACU sits at 2-6 in WAC play with their other WAC win being a home win over Sam Houston in the WAC opener.
 
QUICK HITS
 • Tarleton is now in eighth place in the WAC with a 3-5 conference record. California Baptist and Utah Tech are also 3-5 but Tarleton holds head-to-head wins over both as well as having more overall wins with 11. If the season ended today, Tarleton would be the eighth and final team to play in the WAC tournament in Edinburg and would be the first Tarleton Athletics program to play in a WAC postseason tournament.
• After a stellar three matches last week, freshman Ailie Hair now leads the WAC in hitting percentage, hitting .382. She posted 10 kills on .364 hitting vs. Texas A&M-Commerce and 11 kills on .625 hitting vs. California Baptist. Hair also landed a career-high eight blocks in the Texans loss to Grand Canyon.
• Other Texans on the WAC leaderboards include freshman Megan Hodges in eighth with 6.78 assists per set, junior Grayson Schirpik in fourth with .39 service aces per set and senior Ana Costas in seventh with 3.99 digs per set.
• Grayson Schirpik earned her third double-double of the season vs. Texas A&M-Commerce when she finished with 14 kills and 15 digs. The six-rotation player has been crucial for the Texans in WAC play.
•  As a team in the WAC, Tarleton ranks fifth in hitting percentage (.212), sixth in assists/set (11.61), eighth in blocks/set (1.97), fourth in service aces/set (1.54) and seventh in kills/set (12.49) out of 13 teams.
• Megan Haynes led Tarleton in kills in two of three matches last week. She added 17 kills in the loss to A&M-Commerce and 14 kills in the win over California Baptist. Haynes has eight straight matches with double-digit kills and 12 such matches on the season.
• Breanna McDonough tied her career-high of six blocks in the loss to Grand Canyon. She previously secured six blocks in the Texans win over UIW.
 
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 first in the WAC with a .382 hitting percentage. Hair leads the Texans in blocks (80) and hitting percentage (.382). She has garnered two WAC Freshman of the Week honors and has seven matches with double-digit kills as a middle blocker.
Emma Burke is second on the team behind Hair with 50 blocks this season. She has appeared in 22 of 23 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 vs. CBU when she totaled a career-high tying seven blocks to go with four kills on .500 hitting.
Megan Hodges has been Tarleton's primary setter for the whole season. She leads the team with 576 assists and ranks eighth in the WAC with 6.78 assists per set. She also has added 158 digs on the year which is good for second on the team. In eight conference matches, Hodges has never finished with less than 25 assists.
Breanna McDonough has factored heavily into the rotation, seeing time in all 23 matches as a right side. She ranks third on the team with 193 kills and has seven 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 WAC leading .382 hitting percentage and has a team-high 80 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 339 digs and has posted 15+ digs in 13 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.
 
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
The Texans will play for their final two home matches of the season in Wisdom Gym next week. They start off hosting Utah Valley on Thursday at 6 p.m. CT before welcoming Seattle U for a 1 p.m. CT match on Saturday. The Seattle U match on Saturday will be 'Spooky Saturday' where fans are encouraged to wear Halloween costumes. Both matches will be streamed on ESPN+.