THE TEAMS:   

• Tarleton State Texans (6-14 overall, 1-6 WAC)  

• Grand Canyon Lopes (12-6 overall, 5-2 WAC)

WHERE: Phoenix, Arizona
ARENA: Global Credit Union Arena (7,000)
TIME: 4 p.m. CT  

STREAMING PLATFORM: ESPN+

TEXAN VOLLEYBALL MATCH DAY: The Texans will close out their two-match road trip in Phoenix, AZ, where they will take on Grand Canyon. The Purple and White are coming off their first conference win of the season against California Baptist, who they beat 3-2.

QUICK HITS:
• Last week, Tarleton State Volleyball set a new program attendance record of 1,129 fans on Thursday against ACU.
• Tarleton is 4th in the nation in total digs (1320). The Texans are also 12th nationwide in total assists (912) and 19th in total kills (977).
• Freshman Tatum Busch set a career-high 23 kills against California Baptist on Thursday. Her previous career high was 13. 
• In the past week, the Texans have had three players break their career highs in service aces. Allison Bryant had five against Abilene Christian, Megan Hodges had five against Utah Valley, and Addison Goss registered four against California Baptist.
• Yuna Ansquer set a career-high 28 assists against the Lancers on Thursday.
• Emma Halcomb leads the WAC in total digs (324) and is third in digs per set (3.96). Halcomb is the fastest in the conference to reach 300 digs.
• Against Utah Valley, Halcomb marked her fifth match of 20-plus digs this season. Allison Bryant also notched her fourth match of 20-plus kills this season and her second consecutive match of 20-plus.
• Bryant holds the WAC individual high for most kills in a match this season (27). She also ranks 12th in the nation in total kills (298).
• Bryant broke her career-high with five aces against Abilene Christian. This ranks T-2 in Tarleton's D1 Era History. Hodges tied this total two days later, breaking her career-high in aces against Utah Valley with five to tie Bryant on the leaderboard.
• Bryant was named WAC Player of the Week three 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.
• Halcomb was named WAC Libero of the Week three 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.
• Busch broke her career-high with 12 digs against Seattle U. Busch also recorded her first collegiate double-double (10 kills, 10 digs) vs UVU.
• Mary Kate Stasevich tied her career-high in blocks (five) two times last week. Stasevich has three or more blocks in her last four matches played.
• Emma Burke tied her career-high for blocks with nine against Seattle U last Thursday. She has 27 blocks in her past five matches.
• Tarleton holds four of the five top conference totals for most team digs in a match this season.
• 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 (6.10). She has recorded double-digit assists in every match this season.
• Ansquer and Hodges have combined for 20+ assists each in six matches this season. Hodges has 10 double-doubles this year.
• 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). 

LAST TIME OUT:
• Tarleton trails all-time vs GCU, 1-4. 
• The Texans won their last matchup against the Lopes, 3-1, in Stephenville, TX.
• Tarleton is 0-3 in Phoenix.
• Last match against GCU, Emma Burke came up one block short of her career-high, notching eight blocks against the Lopes.
• Megan Hodges registered 20 assists against the Lopes on 11/2/23.

TEXANS RANK AT TOP OF NATION:
• The Texans are 4th in the nation in total team digs (1320).
• Tarleton is 12th in the nation in total team assists (912).
• The Texans are 35th in the nation in digs per set (16.3).
• Tarleton is 19th in the nation in total kills (977).
• Allison Bryant is 12th in the nation in total kills with 298.

CALIFORNIA BAPTIST RECAP:
• The Texans earned their first conference win of the season against the CBU Lancers on Thursday in Riverside, CA.
• This marked Tarleton's third consecutive five-set match.
• Tatum Busch set a match-high 23 kills, shattering her previous career high of 13. 
• Addison Goss set a new career-high with four aces against CBU.
• Allison Bryant registered 22 digs, notching her second match of the year with 20-plus digs. Her career-high is 23.
• Ansquer and Hodges had 20+ assists each for the fifth time this year.

OPPONENT SCOUTING REPORT:
• The Lopes curretntly hold second place on the WAC leaderboard with a 5-2 conference record.
• Tatum Parrott ranks second in the WAC with 4.18 kills per set.
• Aubrey Goodere boasts a .307 hitting percentage, which ranks third in the conference.
• Taylor Kubacak and Parrott both rank in the WAC top-five for aces.
• Kubacak ranks fourth in the conference with 7.51 assists per set.
• The Lopes have two players on the WAC leaderboard for blocks. Trista Strasser (1.59 B/S) ranks third, followed by Goodere (1.10 B/S) who ranks seventh.

RECENT SEASON AND CAREER HIGHS BROKEN:
• Tatum Busch set a career-high 23 kills against CBU on Thursday.
• Bryant broke her career-high in aces with five agaist Abilene Christian last Thursday. This ranks T-2nd in Tarleton's D1 Era history.
• Addison Goss set a career-high four aces against CBU.
• Carly Lange set a season-high 12 digs against the Wildcats.
• Hodges notched a new career-high with five aces against the Wolverines. This tied Bryant for the T-2 spot in Tarleton D1 history.
• Halcomb broke her career-high in digs (26) against Louisiana-Monroe during the TSU Invitational.
• Burke tied her career-high of nine blocks against Seattle U.
• Tehana Mo'o tied her career-high of 11 kills against the Wildcats. She has achieved this number twice this season. 
• Stasevich tied her career-high with five blocks last Thursday against ACU. She tied that number again on Saturday vs Utah Valley.
• Ansquer set a new career-high of 28 assists during Tarleton's victory against CBU.
• Hodges has set a season-high of 48 assists twice this year.
• Ansquer broke her career-high with four blocks against ACU.

STATS AMONG THE WAC:
• Allison Bryant is second in the WAC in total kills (298) and fourth in kills per set (3.68).
• Emma Burke is seventh in the WAC in hitting percentage (.285).
• Emma Halcomb is 1st in the WAC in total digs (324) and third in digs per set (3.94).
• Emma Burke is ninth in the WAC with 0.96 blocks per set and fifth in total blocks with 76.
• Hodges is seventh in the WAC in assists per set (6.10).
• Tarleton is 1st in the WAC in digs (1320) and digs per set (16.3).
• The Texans are fifth in the WAC in kills per set (12.1).
• The Texans are fifth in the WAC in assists per set (11.3).
• Tarleton holds four of the five top conference totals for most digs in a match as a team.

TARLETON SETS VOLLEYBALL ATTENDANCE RECORD:
• The Texans had 1,129 people in attendance during their homecoming match against Abilene Christian on 10/10/24.
• This marked an all-time attendance record for a Tarleton Volleyball home match, as well as an attendance record in their new home, Wisdom Gym.
• This was the first match above 1,000 fans in Tarleton Volleyball history.

ON THE BUBBLE:
• The top 8 out of 9 WAC Volleyball teams make the conference tournament.
• With their win against CBU, Tarleton moved up to the eighth seed in the WAC.
• California Baptist is tied with Tarleton in conference wins, while Seattle U has one more than the Texans after beating Southern Utah on Thursday.
• Tarleton will face California Baptist and Seattle U one more time before the season comes to a close.

Following their match against GCU, Tarleton will have one week off before they take on Utah Tech next Saturday. The match will be held at Wisdom Gym in Stephenville, TX, with first serve set for 1 p.m. CT. The match will also be streamed on ESPN+.