The Teams: Tarleton Texans (12-14, 4-7 WAC) at Sam Houston (6-20, 3-9 WAC)
Where: Huntsville, Texas
Venue: Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum
Time: Thursday, 6:30 p.m. CT
Streaming Platform: ESPN+

TEXAN VOLLEYBALL MATCH DAY
 
Tarleton volleyball is down to its last three matches of the regular season as they head into Thursday's tilt with Sam Houston in Huntsville.
 
The last three matches are vital for the Texans who are competing for one of the final eight spots in the WAC Tournament. They take on Sam Houston this week and then conclude the season with matches at NM State and at UTRGV next week. The Texans look to need two more wins to be in the thick of the race.
 
Thursday's match at the Johnson Coliseum will be broadcasted on ESPN+. The Texans will be searching for their first ever win over the Bearkats.  
 
MATCHUP NOTES
• Tarleton volleyball plays just one match this week, taking on the Sam Houston Bearkats in Huntsville on Thursday at 6:30.
• Tarleton is 0-2 all-time vs. the Bearkats. Both matches came in the 2021 season. The first matchup was in Huntsville as the Texans fell 1-3. The Bearkats then tripped to Wisdom Gym where   Tarleton put in a great performance on senior day but fell in five sets. The 2021 Bearkats advanced all the way to the WAC Tournament semi-finals where they fell to Grand Canyon.
• Sam Houston is reeling as they are currently on an eight-match losing streak, all WAC matches. They are returning home after playing four straight on the road and their last match out was a   loss in three sets to California Baptist who the Texans took down previously this season.
• The Texans are fresh off a senior day sweep of Seattle U on Saturday. They played their final two matches at home last week, falling to Utah Valley on Thursday before defeating the Redhawks. The win was their fourth WAC win of the season that pushed them to 4-7 on the season.
 
QUICK HITS
 
• Tarleton presently sits in 10th place in the WAC. They are 4-7, behind NM state (7th), Utah Tech (8th) and California Baptist (9th) who all hold 4-6 conference records. The Texans hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over Utah Tech and California Baptist, and play NM State in Las Cruces on Thursday, Nov. 10. The top eight teams move on to the WAC Tournament hosted by UTRGV that runs from Nov. 17-19.
• Last week, Megan Haynes led the Texans in kills in both matches. Against Utah Valley, Haynes landed 13 kills on .391 hitting to pair with two digs and two blocks. In the win over Seattle U she finished with 11 kills. Haynes now leads Tarleton in overall kills with 236 on the season. The Texans are 8-6 in matches where Haynes has 10 or more kills.
• Freshman Ailie Hair continues to rank first in the WAC in hitting with a .372 clip. She added four kills and three blocks vs. Utah Valley and eight kills and six blocks vs. Seattle U.
• As a team the Texans are hitting seventh best in the WAC (.207), getting the seventh most assists per set (11.54), landing the seventh most kills per set (12.38) and rejecting the seventh most attacks with 2.03 blocks per set.
• Freshman Breanna McDonough is extremely efficient with her attacks. Last week she added six kills on .333 hitting vs. Utah Valley and nine kills on .368 hitting vs. Seattle U. For the season she is connecting at a .237 clip and has the third most kills on the team with 212.
• Freshman Megan Hodges is the table setter for nearly all the Texan attacks. The setter has played in all 95 sets this season and has 647 assists on the season. Last week she added 29 assists and four digs vs. Utah Valley and 21 assists and five digs vs. Seattle U.
• Jaylibeth Garcia-Rosa was a sparkplug for Tarleton in the win over Seattle U. She landed six kills on .455 hitting to go with two blocks in the three sets she appeared in.
 
 
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 .372 hitting percentage. Hair leads the Texans in blocks (95) and hitting percentage (.372). 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 58.0 blocks this season. She has appeared in 25 of 26 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 647 assists and ranks eighth in the WAC with 6.81 assists per set. She also has added 175 digs on the year which is good for second on the team. In 11 conference matches, Hodges has never finished with less than 20 assists.
Breanna McDonough has factored heavily into the rotation, seeing time in all 26 matches as a right side. She ranks third on the team with 212 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 358 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 travel to Las Cruces for a match at NM State in the Pan American Center on Thursday, Nov. 10. The match will be streamed on WAC International.