The Teams: Tarleton Texans (8-3, 0-0 WAC) at Northern Colorado (4-4, 0-0 Big Sky); Santa Clara (3-6, 0-0 West Coast Conference); Cal Poly (0-7, 0-0 Big West)
Where: Greeley, Colorado
Stadium: Bank of Colorado Arena
Times: Thursday: 7 p.m. CT at Northern Colorado. Friday: 4 p.m. CT vs. Santa Clara. Saturday: 1 p.m. CT vs. Cal Poly
Streaming Platform: ESPN+ for Thursday's match at Northern Colorado
TEXAN VOLLEYBALL MATCH DAY
Tarleton will stay on the road for a second consecutive weekend, this time their schedule takes them to Greeley, Colorado for the Northern Colorado Classic.
They kick the tournament off against the host, Northern Colorado, at 7 p.m. CT in Bank of Colorado Arena on Thursday. The match will be streamed on ESPN+ and is the only Tarleton match of the weekend that will be streamed.
Luckily for Texan volleyball fans, after the conclusion of the tournament this weekend, all Tarleton matches for the rest of the season will be streamed in some capacity.
Updates can be found on @TarletonVB Twitter and @TarletonVolleyball Instagram accounts. Live stats links and video links can be found on the Tarleton volleyball schedule on TarletonSports.com.
MATCHUP NOTES
· Tarleton volleyball heads to Greeley, Colorado, for the Northern Colorado Classic hosted by Northern Colorado from Thursday through Saturday.
· The field is made up of Northern Colorado, Santa Clara and Cal Poly. The Texans have never met any of the three teams playing in the tournament.
· Tarleton will face off with another opponent that played in the 2021 NCAA Tournament as Northern Colorado made it after winning the Big Sky Tournament. The Bears fell to Washington State, 3-0, in the first round. Texas Tech is the other team to make the NCAA Tournament in 2021 on Tarleton's schedule.
· This is the Texans' last tune up before WAC play begins. They open the WAC slate in Nacogdoches vs. SFA on Thursday, Sept. 22, at 6:30 p.m.
QUICK HITS
· Tarleton is coming off the Dolphin Classic in Jacksonville where they went 1-2 and suffered their second and third losses of the season, falling to the host Jacksonville and Florida Atlantic. Tarleton defeated Idaho in the final game on Saturday in a 3-0 sweep.
· Grayson Schirpik led Tarleton in kills in the first two matches of the Dolphin Classic, adding on to her team lead of 120 kills. The junior ranks third in the WAC in service aces per set with 0.55 and sixth in the WAC in average points per set with 3.83.
· Freshman Megan Hodges finished the loss to Jacksonville with a double-double, the first of her young career. She had 18 assists and 15 digs. Hodges has 20+ assists in seven of Tarleton's 11 matches.
· Freshman Joselyn Roberson made the first start of her career vs. Florida Atlantic. The outside hitter from Kyle, Texas, proceeded to land 10 kills, a career-high.
· Megan Haynes helped Tarleton to a win over Idaho on Saturday behind a team-high and career-high 12 kills (.303). It was her fourth 10+ kill effort of the season and second match where she hit over .300. Tarleton is 4-0 in matches where Haynes has 10 or more kills.
· Ailie Hair continues to be a presence at the net for the Texans. The freshman leads the WAC with a .426 hitting percentage. The closest to Hair is NM State's Lia Mosher at .378. She sits eighth in the WAC with 1.03 blocks per set, as well.
NOTABLES
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 .426 hitting percentage and has a team-high 39 blocks.
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.
Repeat Production?
In 2021, Tarleton ranked third in the WAC in digs and hitting percentage (.228). They look to replicate that this season, albeit with a lot of new faces.
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.
UP NEXT FOR TARLETON
Tarleton will return to Texas and begin Western Athletic Conference play following the Northern Colorado Classic. They open conference play at Stephen F. Austin on Thursday, Sept. 22 at 6:30 p.m. in Shelton Gym. The match will be streamed on ESPN+.
