University Star

The Texas State volleyball team, fresh off a sweep of Seattle University, will come back to Strahan Coliseum to play in front of its Bobcat fans Thursday as it battles the Texas-Arlington Mavericks. Saturday the Bobcats will play Louisiana Tech University Bulldogs.

Bobcat volleyball will meet with Texas-Arlington Oct. 4 and Louisiana Tech University Oct. 6 at Strahan Coliseum. Texas State has a current record of 7-9 overall.

The Bobcats now have a 7-9 record, and have gone 2-3 in the WAC. Dating back to 1973, the Bobcats lead the all-time series 40-25 against the Mavericks. UTA is 12-12 all time on the road against Texas State.

The Mavericks (6-11) are coming off a 3-1 victory over San Jose State University—a team the Bobcats defeated—and a 0-3 loss against the Utah State Aggies. The Bobcats were swept by the Aggies in their last game at Strahan.

The Bobcats were a different team then, however. They now sport a 6-2 formation which features freshman setter Ali Gonzalez from San Marcos High School, giving the offense a new look. The 6-2 formation additionally puts senior setter Caleigh McCorquodale on the court. Associate Coach Tracy Smith feels the formation might be what the team has been missing.

“That new formation really seemed to give us the spark we have been missing,” Smith said. “Hopefully we can keep it up and string together some wins as conference play picks up.”

After the Bobcats face their familiar foe, they will wait a day before coming back to Strahan to battle the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs, who have seen better years. Louisiana Tech sports a 3-14 overall and 0-5 record in the WAC.

The Bobcats, who lead the all-time series with Louisiana Tech 4-2, have won each of the last two matches, the most recent of which was Sept. 5, 2003 in San Marcos.
Louisiana Tech coach Adriano de Souza said the team has been looking good in practice, and he is ready to get out there and compete.

“We are looking forward to competing again and keep growing as a team,” de Souza said. “Our players have been working well together in practice. I believe they will start applying their training to their game.”

Louisiana Tech is looking to break a seven-match  losing streak in its game against the Bobcats, but Texas State does not want to let that happen.

“It’s conference now,” Smith said. “After last weekend we moved up in conference, and so we are trying to do the same this one. We are just trying to get wins. We get some wins, and we move up in conference, and that’s what we are trying to do in the end.”

The Bobcats are currently tied for seventh with UTA in conference at 2-3. The upcoming game is pivotal in terms of the early conference standings. The winner gets sole possession of at least sixth place, and if the Bobcats manage to keep Louisiana Tech without a victory in conference, they could move up even further.

The first game will take place on Thursday against UTA at Strahan Coliseum starting at 6:30 p.m. Saturday’s game versus Louisiana Tech will begin at 2:00 p.m.

Twitter: @TXStatesman