THE TEAMS:
WHERE: Stephenville, Texas
ARENA: Wisdom Gym (3,000)
TIME: 6 p.m. CT
STREAMING PLATFORM: ESPN+
TEXAN VOLLEYBALL MATCH DAY: The Texans are set to take on the Thunderbirds at Wisdom Gym on Thursday evening. Tarleton still remains within one match of WAC playoff seeding despite falling to Grand Canyon last Saturday. The Thunderbirds snapped a six-match losing streak with a sweep against Seattle U last week in Cedar City.
QUICK HITS:
• Emma Halcomb won WAC Libero of the Week for week 10, her second time winning the award this season.
• Halcomb reached a new career high on Monday, notching 34 digs against the Wildcats. This marks a WAC single-match high this season, making her the only player in the conference to have 30 or more digs in a match this year.
• Allison Bryant is 16 kills away from breaking Tarleton's D1 single-season kills record. Bryant is on pace to become the first Texan to have 400 or more kills in a D1 season.
• Tarleton is 17th in the nation in total digs (1630). The Purple and White also rank 26th nationwide in digs per set (16.8).
• Megan Hodges reached her 2,000th career assist against ACU, becoming the eighth Texan all-time to achieve this mark.
• Halcomb reached her 1,000th career dig at Tarleton, becoming the 16th Texan to do so and the second in Tarleton's D1 era.
• Emma Burke registered eight blocks against CBU last Thursday, her second highest block total of her career.
• Halcomb leads the WAC in total digs with 400. Hodges ranks fifth in the conference with 567 total assists.
• Allison Bryant notched her seventh double-double of the season last Monday, registering 18 kills and 17 digs in Abilene.
• Halcomb is the only WAC player to reach 400 kills so far this season.
• The Thunderbirds snapped their six-match losing streak with a sweep against Seattle U on Saturday..
• Allison Bryant holds the WAC individual high for most kills in a match this season (27). She also ranks 30th in the nation in total kills (365).
• Burke and Bryant both reached 500 career kills as a Texan this season.
• The Texans set a new program attendance record of 1,129 fans against ACU during Tarleton's homecoming week.
• Freshman Tatum Busch set a career-high 23 kills against California Baptist two weeks ago. Her previous career high was 13.
• Bryant was named WAC Player of the Week during week 5. 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.
• 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 12 double-doubles this year, a team high.
• Tarleton currently sits one match outside of Abilene Christian and Seattle U for WAC playoff seeding. Seattle U and ACU each have three conference wins.
• Tarleton will play Seattle U for their last match of the season on 11/16/24. If the Texans and ACU are tied following the conclusion of the season, Tarleton holds the set tiebreaker over the Wildcats.
• 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 1-2 against the Thunderbirds all time.
• The Texans dropped their last match against SUU, 0-3.
• The Texans are 0-1 in Stephenville.
• Hodges recorded a team-high 14 assists two months ago against Southern Utah.
• Halcomb notched 19 digs against the Thunderbirds the last time these two teams faced off.
• The Texans beat Southern Utah, 3-2, on 10/8/22.
OPPONENT SCOUTING REPORT:
• The Thunderbirds snapped their six-match losing streak with a win over Seattle U, 3-0.
• Southern Utah is fifth overall in the WAC with a 5-7 conference record.
• Carissa Richie ranks sixth in the conference with a .287 hitting percentafge.
• Teniyah Leuluai is third in the conference with 8.48 assists per set.
• Arianna Rossi ranks eighth in the WAC with 3.67 digs per set.
• Richie averages 1.01 blocks per set, which ranks ninth in the WAC.
• The Thunderbirds are 1-0 in Stephenville all time.
BRYANT ON TRACK TO MAKE TEXAN HISTORY:
• Allison Bryant currently sits at 365 kills on the season.
• The Tarleton D1 record for most kills in a season is 381, set by Lauren Kersey in 2021.
• Bryant needs just 16 more kills to break this record, and she is on pace to be the first Texan to record 400 or more kills in a Division I season.
• Bryant has already emassed 709 kills during her two years at Tarleton, averaging a stellar 3.41 across those two seasons.
HODGES AND HALCOMB IN TEXAN HISTORY BOOKS:
• Megan Hodges reached her 2,000th career assist against ACU, becoming the eighth Texan all-time to achieve this mark and the 2nd in Tarleton's D1 history.
• Emma Halcomb just reached her 1,000th career dig last week, becoming the 16th Texan to accomplish this feat and the 2nd in Tarleton's D1 era.
TEXANS RANK AT TOP OF NATION:
• Allison Bryant ranks 30th in the nation in kills this season (365) and 16th in total attacks (1051).
• The Texans rank 17th in the country with 1630 total team digs.
• Tarleton is 26th in the nation in digs per set (16.8).
STATS AMONG THE WAC:
• Allison Bryant is first in the WAC in total kills (365) and sixth in kills per set (3.76).
• Emma Burke is fifth in the WAC in hitting percentage (.288).
• Emma Halcomb is 1st in the WAC in total digs (400) and second in digs per set (4.21).
• Halcomb is the only WAC player to have 400 digs thus far.
• Emma Burke is seventh in the WAC with 1.04 blocks per set.
• Burke is fifth in total blocks with 101.
• Hodges is sixth in the WAC in assists per set (6.22).
• Hodges is fifth in total assists (603).
• Tarleton is 1st in the WAC in digs (1630) and digs per set (16.8).
• The Texans are second in the WAC in total kills (1182).
• The Texans are sixth in the WAC in assists per set (11.39).
HALCOMB WINS LIBERO OF THE WEEK:
• Emma Halcomb won WAC Libero of the Week for week 10, her second time winning the award this season.
• Halcomb reached a new career high on Monday, notching 34 digs against the Wildcats. This marks a WAC single-match high this season, making Halcomb the only player in the conference to have 30 or more digs in a match this year.
• Halcomb also won WAC Libero of the Week for week five, where she had 26 kills during the Texans win against ULM.
• Halcomb is the first player this season to record 30 or more digs in a WAC volleyball match.
SCHINDLER RANKS AMONG TOP IN NATION:
• Head coach Mary Schindler has 380 victories in 621 matches as a collegiate head coach, all at Tarleton.
• She ranks in the top 50 among active NCAA D1 head coaches in victories.
• Entering her 20th season, she is one of 24 active head coaches to coach 20 years or more at the same institution.
• Coach Schindler needs just 20 more victories to reach 400. She is already the winningest Texan coach in program history.
ON THE BUBBLE:
• The top 8 out of 9 WAC teams make the conference tournament.
• Tarleton currently sits one match outside of Abilene Christian and Seattle U, who each have three conference wins.
• Tarleton will play Seattle U one more time this season on 11/16/24 for their last match of the season.
• The Texans hold the set tiebreaker against Abilene Christian if both teams are tied at the end of the season.
