THE TEAMS:
WHERE: Stephenville, Texas
ARENA: Wisdom Gym (3,000)
TIME: 1 p.m. CT
STREAMING PLATFORM: ESPN+
TEXAN VOLLEYBALL MATCH WEEK: The Purple and White continue their homecoming week slate on Saturday afternoon against the Utah Valley Wolverines. The Texans are looking for their first conference win of the season against the Wolverines, who took their last match against Tarleton, 3-0, in Orem, UT.
QUICK HITS:
• Tarleton is coming off a five-set loss to Abilene Christian on Thursday. The Texans hold a 4-2 home record on the season.
• Emma Burke tied her career-high for blocks with nine against Seattle U last Thursday. Burke achieved this number in only four sets.
• Tehana Mo'o tied her career-high of 11 kills against the Wildcats, marking her second double-digit kill outing on back-to-back Thursdays.
• Allison Bryant ranks sixth in the WAC in kills per set (3.63). She is second in the conference and 18th in the nation in total kills (258).
• Emma Halcomb leads the WAC in total digs (281) and digs per set (3.96). Halcomb ranks 35th in the nation in total digs.
• Halcomb holds the top two digs totals in a single match in the WAC this season.
• Tarleton is 8th in the nation in total digs with 1152. The Texans are also 24th in the nation in total assists with 795.
• Allison Bryant was named WAC Player of the Week two weeks ago. Bryant was named TSU Invitational's MVP as well. She broke the Texans' D1 era kills record with 27 against McNeese on Sept. 17. Bryant also broke her career-high in digs with 23 against Oral Roberts on Sept. 19.
• Bryant holds the WAC individual high for most kills in a match this season.
• Emma Halcomb was named WAC Libero of the Week two weeks ago. She tied her career-high of 25 digs against McNeese on Sept. 17, then proceeded to burst that number once again with a 26-dig outing against ULM on Sept. 21.
• Tatum Busch broke her career-high with 12 digs against Seattle U.
• Mary Kate Stasevich tied her career-high in blocks on Thursday with five. Stasevich has three or more blocks in her last two matches played.
• The Texans cracked the top 25 in total kills across the country. They have 853 as a team.
• Megan Hodges leads the team with eight double-doubles, followed by Yuna Ansquer and Allison Bryant, each with three.
• Emma Burke has led the team in blocks in eleven out of the last twelve matches. She has 19 blocks in her past three matches.
• Megan Hodges holds the Texans new D1 era single match record with 48 assists. She has reached that number twice this season. Hodges is currently seventh in the WAC in assists per set (6.46). Hodges has recorded double-digit assists in every match this season.
• Carly Lange set a new career-high on Thursday against ACU with 12 digs.
• Yuna Ansquer is seventh in the WAC in aces per set (0.30). She leads the Texans in aces with 18, followed by Burke and Bryant with 15.
• Ansquer and Hodges have combined for 20+ assists each in four matches this season.
• The Texans are coming into the 2024 season after notching the most wins in a single season since becoming a Division l program last year.
• The head coach for the Texans, Mary Schindler, is in her 20th season as the leading lady for Tarleton State Volleyball. The Texan coaching staff also consists of Hannah McManus-Smith (5th season), Damien Hardy (1st season), and graduate assistant Matti Theurer (1st season).
SERIES HISTORY:
• Tarleton trails the all-time series against the Wolverines, 2-3.
• Utah Valley took the last matchup with a 3-0 sweep against the Texans in Orem, UT.
• Tarleton holds an even 2-2 record at home against Utah Valley.
• In her most recent match against UVU, Megan Hodges led the team in assists with 18.
• Against Utah Valley on 9/21/23 in Stephenville, Tarleton won 3-1.
• Emma Burke posted a team-high 13 kills, followed by Bryant with 12.
• Burke also posted a team-high five blocks, while Hodges has 22 assists.
• Evalyn Chism (Utah Valley) had 20 assists against the Texans on 9/21/23.
ABILENE CHRISTIAN RECAP:
• Tarleton fell on the short end of a five-set nailbiter to ACU, losing 2-3.
• Emma Burke notched seven blocks, marking her 19th total block in the past three matches.
• Allison Bryant posted a match-best 21 kills, notching her third outing of 20-plus kills this season.
• The Texans had three players in double-digit digs against the Wildcats: Halcomb (13), Lange (12), and Bryant (10).
• The Texans dropped to 0-5 in WAC play and 4-2 at home after going undefeated in their first four home matches.
STATS AMONG THE NATION:
• The Texans are 8th in the nation in total team digs (1152).
• Tarleton is 24th in the nation in total team assists (795).
• Texans are 40th in the nation in digs per set (16.23).
• Tarleton is top 25 in the nation in total kills (853).
• Allison Bryant is 18th in the nation in total kills with 258.
• Emma Halcomb is 35th in the nation in total digs with 281.
RECENT SEASON AND CAREER HIGHS BROKEN:
• Allison Bryant broke her career-high in aces with five agaist Abilene Christian on Thursday. This ranks T-2nd in Tarleton's D1 Era history,
• Halcomb broke her career-high in digs (26) against Louisiana-Monroe.
• Emma Burke tied her career-high of nine blocks last week against Seattle U.
• Tehana Mo'o tied her career-high of 11 kills against the Wildcats. She has achieved this number twice this season.
• Mary Kate Stasevich tied her career-high with five blocks on Thursday agains ACU.
• Carly Lange set a season-high 12 digs against the Wildcats.
• Ansquer set a new career-high of 27 assists in the Texan's tournament-clinching match against ULM.
• Hodges has set a season-high of 48 twice this year.
• Ansquer broke her career-high with four blocks against ACU.
OPPONENT SCOUTING REPORT:
• Utah Valley is on a two-match losing streak, where they lost to Utah Tech last Thursday and Grand Canyon last Saturday, both at home.
• Lani Matavao won WAC Libero of the week for weeks 1-3. She ranks third in the WAC with 3.80 digs per set.
• Evalyn Chism won WAC Setter of the Week for the first four weeks of the season. Chism ranks second in the conference with 9.82 assists per set.
• Utah Valley has two different players this season with WAC Player of the Week awards: Bella Wooden (once) and Avery Shewell (twice).
• UVU has two players in the WAC top-five for kills. Shewell (3.98 K/S)ranks third, followed by Sami Blackett (3.58 K/S) in fifth place.
LAST WEEK'S RECAP:
• Yuna Ansquer set her career-high in blocks with three against UTA.
• Tehana Mo'o tallied her first double-digit kill outing, where she had 11 kills against Seattle U.
• Emma Burke tied her career-high of nine blocks against the Redhawks on Thursday.
• Burke has tallied three or more blocks in four straight matches.
• Emma Halcomb notched her fourth match of the year with 20-plus digs.
• With 13 assists against UTA, Hodges now has a streak of double-digit assists in all 17 matches this season.
• Tatum Busch had a career-high 12 digs against Seattle U and 10 against UTA.
STATS AMONG THE WAC:
• Allison Bryant is second in the WAC in total kills (258) and sixth in kills per set (3.63).
• Emma Halcomb is 1st in the WAC in digs (281) and digs per set (3.96).
• Emma Burke is 10th in the WAC with 0.96 blocks per set and 68 total.
• Ansquer is eighth in the WAC in service aces per set (0.30).
• Hodges is seventh in the WAC in assists per set (6.18).
• Tarleton is 1st in the WAC in digs (1152) and digs per set (16.2) .
• The Texans are fifth in the WAC in kills per set (12).
• The Texans are fifth in the WAC in assists per set (11.2).
• Tarleton holds four of the five top conference totals for most digs in a match as a team.
• Tarleton has tallied at least 11 aces as a team three times this season.
After the conclusion of Saturday's match, Tarleton will head to Riverside, CA next Thursday to take on California Baptist at 7 p.m. CT. The match will be streamed on ESPN+.
