THE TEAMS:
WHERE: Stephenville, Texas
ARENA: Wisdom Gym (3,000)
TIME: 6 p.m. CT
STREAMING PLATFORM: ESPN+
TEXAN VOLLEYBALL MATCH WEEK: The Purple and White return to Stephenville for homecoming week after falling to UT Arlington in straight sets on Saturday. Tarleton is looking for their first conference win of the season against the Wildcats at Wisdom Gym, where they hold a strong 4-1 home record heading into the match. This will be their fifth consecutive conference match.
QUICK HITS:
• The Texans are on a two-match win streak against the Wildcats, but trail the series 7-12 all-time.
• The Texans are coming off their first home loss, where they fell to Seattle U last week, 1-3. Tarleton was previously 4-0 at home.
• Fans are encouraged to wear purple on Thursday for Purple People Bleeder night.
• 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 notched a career-high 11 kills against the Redhawks last week, marking her first double-digit kill total of the year.
• Allison Bryant ranks sixth in the WAC in kills per set (3.56). She is second in the conference and 37th in the nation in total kills (235).
• Emma Halcomb leads the WAC in total digs (268) and digs per set (4.06). Halcomb ranks 45th in the nation in total digs.
• Halcomb holds the top two digs totals in a single match in the WAC this season.
• 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 has notched double-digit digs in her last two matches. She broke her career-high with 12 digs against Seattle U.
• Allison Bryant, Emma Halcomb, and Megan Hodges were all selected to the Tarleton State Invitational's All-Tournament 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 ten out of the last eleven 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.
• Mary Kate Stasevich has three or more blocks in her last two matches played.
• Yuna Ansquer is seventh in the WAC in aces per set (0.32). She leads the Texans in aces with 18, followed by Emma Burke 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 Purple and White will face 2023 NCAA Tournament team Grand Canyon twice this season.
• 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 is on a two-match win streak against Abilene Christian.
• The Wildcats lead the all time series 12-7.
• The Texans took their last matchup, 3-1.
• Megan Hodges led the team with 24 assists against ACU last time out.
• Allison Bryant led the team in blocks with three during her last match against the Wildcats.
• The Texans have won both recent matches in Abilene and Stephenville.
• This will be Tarleton's first time playing ACU in Wisdom Gym.
• The Texans will play the Wildcats at least one more time this year on Oct. 28 in Abilene.
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 NATION:
• The Texans are 12th in the nation in total team digs (1084).
• Tarleton is 42nd in the nation in total team assists (749).
• Texans are 32nd in the nation in digs per set (16.42).
• Tarleton is top 50 in the nation in total kills (803).
• Allison Bryant is 37th in the nation in total kills with 235.
• Emma Halcomb is 45th in the nation in total digs with 268.
STATS AMONG THE WAC:
• Allison Bryant is second in the WAC in total kills (235) and sixth in kills per set (3.56).
• Emma Halcomb is 1st in the WAC in digs (268) and digs per set (4.06).
• Emma Burke is 10th in the WAC with 0.89 blocks per set.
• Ansquer is eighth in the WAC in service aces per set (0.32).
• Hodges is seventh in the WAC in assists per set (6.33).
• Tarleton is 1st in the WAC in digs (1082) and digs per set (16.39) .
• The Texans are fifth in the WAC in kills per set (12.14).
• The Texans are fifth in the WAC in assists per set (11.33).
• 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.
OPPONENT SCOUTING REPORT:
• The Wildcats are 7-8 overall, 2-2 WAC. They currently rank fifth.
• Bryley Steinhilber ranks seventh in the WAC in kills per set (3.20).
• Madeline Guffy ranks sixth in the conference in assists per set (6.83).
• Guffy won WAC Setter of the Week during week five, the same week Halcomb and Bryant won their awards.
• ACU is on a two-match win streak, winning 3-2 against California Baptist and 3-2 against Seattle U.
• Abilene's past two wins notched their only conference wins of the season so far.
BRYANT, HALCOMB WIN WAC WEEKLY AWARDS:
• Allison Bryant was named WAC Player of the Week two weeks ago.
• Bryant broke the Texans single-match kills record since they've been a D1 program. She had a career-high 27 kills against McNeese Sept. 17.
• Bryant also broke her career-high for digs with 23 against Oral Roberts Sept. 19.
• Bryant had three double-doubles in five matcheg during TSU Invitational week.
• Emma Halcomb won WAC Libero of the Week two weeks ago.
• Halcomb holds the top two digs totals in a single match in the WAC this season.
• Halcomb currently leads the WAC in digs (268) and digs per set (4.06).
• Halcomb broke her career-high in digs (26) against Louisiana-Monroe.
ANSQUER AND HODGES:
• During their TSU Invitational slate, Hodges and Ansquer combined for 20-plus assists each in three of four matches.
• Hodges is currently seventh in the WAC in assists per set (6.33).
• Ansquer set a new career-high of 27 assists in the Texan's tournament-clinching match against ULM.
• Hodges has had double-digit assists in every match this season.
• Ansquer has double-digit assists in all but four matches this year.
• Hodges has set a season-high of 48 twice this year.
• Hodges has eight double-doubles on the season, Ansquer has three.
• Ansquer has a combined five blocks in the past two matches.
2023 CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT:
• In the 2023 season, the Texans earned their first ever appearance in the WAC Tournament.
• The Texans fell in the WAC Quarterfinals to UTRGV in five sets.
• Tarleton earned its first berth as the sixth seed in the 2023 tournament.
• The Texans clinched their bid with a victory at ACU in the final game of the regular season.
Following Thursday's match, the Texans will continue their home slate against Utah Valley on Saturday, where early-arriving fans will receive free koozies as a part of Tarleton's homecoming giveaway. Saturday's match will be at 1 p.m. CT at Wisdom Gym. The match will be streamed on ESPN+.
