ARLINGTON – The UT Arlington volleyball team (9-5, 9-5 Sun Belt) will hit the road to face nationally-ranked Texas State (19-1, 14-0 SBC) in the final regular season matches of the season at Strahan Arena. First serve on Friday (Nov. 13) is set for 6:00 p.m., while Saturday's (Nov. 14) match will start at 1:00 p.m.

MATCH 1 | UTA (9-5, 9-5 SBC) at #11 Texas State (19-1, 14-0 SBC)
When: Friday, Nov. 13 | 6:00 P.M.
Where: San Marcos, Texas | Strahan Arena
Live Stats | ESPN+

MATCH 2 | UTA (9-5, 9-5 SBC) at #11 Texas State (19-1, 14-0 SBC)
When: Saturday, Nov. 14 | 1:00 P.M.
Where: San Marcos, Texas | Strahan Arena
Live Stats | ESPN+

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT | #11 TEXAS STATE

• The Bobcats are currently on a 16-match winning streak and have won their last 15 home matches against Sun Belt Conference opponents dating back to 2019.
• Defensively, the Bobcats rank No. 2 in the Sun Belt with a .141 opponent hitting percentage, No. 3 in the conference with 2.20 blocks per set, and sits at No. 5 with 17.10 digs on average.
• This week's Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Week, Janell Fitzgerald leads the Bobcats with 3.86 kills per set (No. 5 in the Sun Belt) behind a .357 hitting percentage (No. 2 in the Sun Belt). She also ranks second on the team with 0.86 blocks per set.
• Senior middle blocker Tyeranee Scott leads the Bobcats with 0.90 blocks per set (62 total) and ranks No. 3 in the Sun Belt with a .344 hitting percentage.
• Junior setter Emily DeWalt is the conference leader with 11.47 assists per set and has registered 3.31 digs per set, 61 kills behind a .331 hitting percentage, and 11 aces. DeWalt is No. 5 on the program's all-time career assists list with 3,269 career assists entering the weekend.

UTA NOTES

• UTA has posted a 80-55 record in SBC play since joining the league in 2013.
• The Mavericks have won 10+ SBC matches in four of their seven seasons in the league.
• The Mavs head into Friday's match having dropped four of their last five matches.
• Brooke Townsend leads the team in kills (171) and kills per set (3.17) kills per set, which ranks No. 8 in the Sun Belt.
• Freshman Brianna Ford's 3.05 kills per set ranks No. 9 in the league.
• UTA setting duo of Kylee Kapp and Mollie Blank, register 5.51 and 5.08 assists per set, respectively.
• 2-sport athletes (VB) blocker Michaela Wright leads the team with 0.81 blocks per set.
• 2-time SBC Defensive Player of the Week Alli Wells leads the conference with 6.69 digs per set.
• UTA ranks third in the SBC with 13.46 kills per set and 12.24 assists per set, while ranking fifth in the league with a .191 hitting percentage.
• Defensively, UTA leads the league with 19.96 digs per set and ranks No. 7 in opponent hitting percentage (.179) and service aces per set (1.31), and No. 8 in blocks per set (2.06).

SBC ANNOUNCES NEW VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP FORMAT
For Sun Belt Volleyball programs, there will be a new path to a title in 2020. The conference announced a new championship format that includes all 12 teams competing with pool play leading into a four-team knockout round bracket in a new five-day format that will take place in Foley, Ala.

Teams will be divided into four pools of three teams each and each squad will play two matches over three days starting Wednesday, Nov. 18. Pool winners will then advance to a single elimination knockout round bracket starting on Saturday, Nov. 21 at 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. with the semifinals followed by the tournament championship match on Sunday, Nov. 22 at 1 p.m.

All matches will be streamed live on ESPN+ and will be held at the Foley Sports Complex.

The pools will be comprised of a mixture of East and West Division teams after the league played a divisional-only schedule in 2020.

Pool A consists of the No. 1 East Division team along with the No. 4 West Division team and the No. 6 East Division team. That pool's winner will face the Pool D winner in the semifinals of the knockout round, a pool that consists of the No. 2 West Division, No. 3 East Division and No. 5 West Division teams.

UTA, the No. 3 seed in the West Division, will compete in Pool B. Pool B includes the No. 2 East Division, No. 3 West Division and No. 5 East Division teams while Pool C is comprised of the No. 1 West Division, No. 4 East Division and No. 6 West Division teams. The two pool winners will meet in the second semifinal match.

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