The Teams:  

• Tarleton State Texans (1-8, 0-0 WAC) 

• Oral Roberts (1-9, 0-0 SLC)  

• Alcorn State (1-5, 0-0 SWAC) 

• Houston Christian (2-6, 0-0 SLC)  

• Louisiana-Monroe (2-7, 0-0- SBC) 

Where: Stephenville, Texas  

Stadium: Wisdom Gym (3,000) 

Time:  

• Oral Roberts (Sept. 19) 7 p.m. CT 

• Alcorn State (Sept. 20) 10 a.m. CT 

• Houston Christian (Sept. 20) 6 p.m. CT 

• Louisiana-Monroe (Sept. 21) 6 p.m. CT 

Streaming Platform: ESPN+   

TEXAN VOLLEYBALL MATCH WEEK: 

The Texans are finally headed back home to Stephenville after playing their first nine matches on the road to start their season. Tarleton will play four matches in three days, the first one being against Oral Roberts on Thursday at 7 p.m. CT. Their match against Oral Roberts will be the only non-tournament match of the week. Tarleton is slated to host the Tarleton State Invitational Friday-Saturday where they will play Alcorn State, Houston Christian, and Louisiana-Monroe. The tournament will conclude Saturday evening.  

QUICK HITS: 

• The Texans will kick off their first home match of the season against Oral Roberts on Thursday after playing nine consecutive matches on the road to start the season. 

• Following the Oral Roberts game, Tarleton will host their first and only home tournament of the season (The Tarleton State Invitational) on Friday and Saturday. This will consist of four teams who will play three matches each. 

• Tarleton achieved their first win of the season against the New Mexico Lobos during the Lumberjack Classic in Flagstaff, Ariz. where they won 3-1. 

• Allison Bryant just broke the single-match kill record for Tarleton State since they've been a D1 program. Bryant tallied 27 kills against McNeese on Sept. 17, where she also recorded her first double-double of the season (27 kills, 13 digs).  

• Bryant ranks fourth in the WAC in kills with 129. 

Emma Halcomb tied her career-high in digs with 25 digs against McNeese on Sept. 17. She has only achieved this total one other time vs Yale in 2021.  

• Halcomb also set the season-high for total digs in a single match throughout the WAC, breaking her teammate Addison Goss' previous high of 23. Halcomb leads the WAC in total digs with 134 heading into the tournament. 

•  Yuna Ansquer recorded her first career double-double at McNeese Sept. 17. (24 assists, 11 digs) 

• Tatum Busch (Freshman)  was selected to the All-Tournament team for the Tommie Invitational in St. Paul, MN.  

• Megan Hodges set the Texans new D1 era single match record with 48 assists against Arkansas Little Rock. Hodges went on to tie this number September 6th against Northern Illinois... 

• Megan Hodges is currently fifth in the WAC in total assists with 242 heading into this weekend. 

• Last season's Second Team All-WAC selection Emma Burke was named to 2024 Preseason All-WAC Team.  

• Tarleton State entered the 2024 season with nine returners and nine newcomers.  

• 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 consists of assistant, Hannah McManus-Smith (5th season), assistant, Damien Hardy (1st season), and graduate assistant and former player, Matti Theurer (1st season). 

TARLETON STATE INVITATIONAL SCHEDULE: 

• Four teams will participate in the tournament. 

• Houston Christian, Alcorn State, Louisiana-Monroe, and Tarleton State 

• Each team will play three matches each. 

• The tournament starts Friday morning and ends Saturday evening. 

• Last year, The Texans finished the tournament 3-0. 

• They outscored their opponents 9-2 throughout the tournament. 

• Allison Bryant led the team in kills throughout the tournament. 

• Emma Burke led the team in blocks throughout the tournament. 

HISTORY: 

• Tarleton and Oral Roberts will face each other for the first time on Friday 

• Tarleton and Alcorn State will face each other for the first time on Saturday 

• Tarleton has a 1-0 all-time record against HCU. Their last match was in 2004, where Tarleton won 3-2.  

• Tarleton has a 1-0 all-time record against ULM. Their last match was on 08/27/2022 where the Texans won 3-0. 

• In their last meeting vs ULM in 2022, Emma Burke came up one block short of her career high with eight blocks. Megan Hodges also led the team in assists that game with 21. She leads the Texans in total asissts during the 2024 season. 

BRYANT BREAKS TARLETON D1 KILLS RECORD: 

• Allison Bryant broke the Texans single-match kills record since they've been a D1 program. She had a career-high 27 kills against McNeese.  

• The previous record was held by Lauren Kersey, who had 25 kills against Texas State on Sept. 17, 2021. Bryant broke the kills record exactly three years apart from the previous one. 

MCNEESE RECAP: 

• The Texans lost 2-3 to McNeese in Lake Charles 

• Emma Halcomb tied her career-high in digs with 25 against McNeese. This also sets the current season-high across the WAC. 

• Yuna Ansquer had a new career-high with 24 assists. She also recorded her first career double-double against McNeese (24 assists, 11 digs).  

• Allison Bryant also recorded her first double-double of the season (27 kills, 13 digs) at McNeese. 

• The Texans had two players with 20-plus assists, their first time achieving that this season. 

• Ansquer (24 assists) led the team, followed closely by Megan Hodges (23 assists).  

• The Texans also had three players with double-digit digs and two players with double-doubles. 

STATS AMONG THE WAC: 

• Allison Bryant ranks 4th in the WAC in kills (129) 

• Emma Halcomb is 1st in the WAC in digs (134) 

• Halcomb leads the WAC in digs per set (3.83) 

• Allison Bryant is 6th in the WAC in total points  

• Tarleton is 4th in the WAC in assists with 11.35 A/S 

• Tarleton is 1st in the WAC in digs (578) 

• Tarleton is 1st in digs per set (16.51) The second closest is Ut Arlington (14.03) 

• Bryant is 3rd in the WAC in attacks per set 

• Hodges is 5th in the WAC in total assists (242) 

• Tarleton is 5th in the WAC in assists (390) 

• Tarleton is 5th in the WAC in kills (421) 

GOSS SETS WAC SINGLE-MATCH DIG RECORD, HALCOMB BREAKS IT: 

• Addison Goss set the WAC high for the most digs in a single match this season with 23 against Texas A&M Commerce (08/31/2024). 

• She is the only player on the leaderboard with two games of 20 plus digs. 

• Emma Halcomb went on to break this record with 25 digs against McNeese two weeks later. This tied her career-high in digs. 

• This was Halcomb's first performance of 20-plus digs this season. 

LUMBERJACK TOURNAMENT RECAP: 

• Tarleton clinched their first win of the season against the New Mexico Lobos 3-1, snapping their six-match losing streak.  

• Megan Hodges had 21 assists against New Mexico. She has led the team in assists every match but one this season. 

• Allison Bryant led the team in kills through the tournament with 25 kills in two matches. 

• Tarleton had two players in double-digit assists vs Northern Arizona. Hodges (16) And Ansquer (10). 

• Emma Burke tied her season-high in blocks (4) for the third time this season. 

• Tarleton finished the tournament with one win and one loss. 

SCHINDLER RANKS AMONG TOP IN NATION: 

• Head coach Mary Schindler has 374 victories in 603 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 26 more victories to reach 400. She is already the winningest Texan coach in program history. 

Following the Tarleton State Invitational, the Texans will have five days off before they travel to Utah to open their WAC slate with two consecutive road matches. The Texans will face Southern Utah at 7:30 p.m. CT next Thursday, followed by Utah Tech at 2 p.m. CT next Saturday.