2018 Sun Belt Volleyball News and Notes:
Standings | Composite Schedule | Stats |
Championship Information
AROUND #SUNBELTVB
• Sun Belt volleyball closes out the regular season with 11 matches with a pair scheduled for live coverage on ESPN+.
• Crucial matches still remain this week to determine this year’s Sun Belt Volleyball Championship field. The eight-team bracket comprises of the top four teams from each division competing in a single-elimination format to secure the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship.
• The East Division has Appalachian State (19-7, 11-3 Sun Belt), Coastal Carolina (11-11, 10-4) and South Alabama (13-14, 7-7) followed by three separated by two games in the loss column – Troy (10-17, 4-10), Georgia State (6-18, 3-11) and Georgia Southern (8-21, 2-12).
Appalachian State took the season series 2-0 over Coastal Carolina and needs a win or Chanticleer loss over the final two contests to secure the division title and earn a double bye in the Sun Belt Tournament. Troy control its own destiny but needs at least one win over the division’s top teams to hold on the fourth spot. Either Georgia State or Georgia Southern needs to sweep its rivalry doubleheader and get some help slide into the fourth spot in the division.
• Over in the West Division, Texas State (23-6, 14-1) has already secured Sun Belt regular-season title and its second-straight division title. There is a lock jam behind the Bobcats with UTA (15-10, 9-6), Little Rock (16-11, 8-6), Arkansas State (16-11, 8-6) and Louisiana (14-14, 6-8) only separated by two games in the loss column.
Little Rock or Arkansas State can jump UTA for the second spot in the division with a weekend sweep as the Mavericks have only one match remaining. Louisiana needs a weekend sweep of its own and Little Rock or Arkansas State to fall in both matches to stay in contention for the fourth spot in the division.
• Texas State moved up 25th in the latest
NCAA Division I RPI updated through matches of Nov. 4. The Bobcats rose to 20th in this week’s
VolleyMag.com Mid-Major Poll presented by the NIVC. Texas State saw its 17-match win streak snapped against Arkansas State on Nov. 2. The Bobcats were riding the third-longest winning streak in school history and were on the longest run since 2000.
• Appalachian State now owns the league’s longest active winning streak at six in a row. The Mountaineers have reached double-digit Sun Belt victories since joining the league in 2014 and their nine home s victories are the most since 2015.
• Coastal Carolina is streaking as well, having won five-straight matches. This streak marks the fifth-straight year the Chanticleers have put together a winning streak of five or more matches.
• Little Rock senior middle blocker Veronica Marin remains the nation’s leader in total blocks (169) and stands fifth in blocks per set (1.59). Led by Marin, the Trojans rank third in team total blocks (286) and 17th in blocks per set (2.70).
• Arkansas State senior outside hitter Carlisa May continues her assault on the records books as well, now sitting second in school history with 1,777 career kills. May remains in position to catch all-time leader Margie Kolat who had 1,789 kills from 1991-94. Her career total ranks second among active Division I players and fifth among active players across all divisions. May currently ranks fourth in the nation with 460 kills on the year, while also checking in at ninth in the nation with 4.65 kills per set.
• Louisiana senior libero Sydney Davis enters the week only 36 digs shy of 2,000 for her career.
• The 2018 Sun Belt Women’s Volleyball Championship is set for Nov. 15-18 at the GSU Sports Arena in Atlanta, Ga., hosted by Georgia State. Tickets for the championship can be purchased at
GeorgiaStateSports.com/TIX.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Kara Spicer, Appalachian State (So., MB, Peoria, Ariz.)
Appalachian State sophomore middle blocker Kara Spicer posted 26 kills (4.33 kills/set) and a .477 hitting percentage in a pair of weekend sweeps over Georgia State and Georgia Southern. Against Georgia State, Spicer had 11 kills (3.67 kills/set) with just two errors on 17 tires to finish for a .529 hitting mark. She followed that with 15 kills (5.00 kills/set) and just three errors to hit .444 against Georgia Southern.
| Spicer's Weekly Stats |
| Match |
s |
k |
k/s |
e |
ta |
pct |
a |
a/s |
sa |
sa/s |
digs |
d/s |
bs |
ba |
tot |
b/s |
pts |
pts/s |
| Nov 2 vs. Georgia State W, 3-0 |
3 |
11 |
3.67 |
2 |
17 |
.529 |
0 |
0.00 |
3 |
1.00 |
0 |
0.00 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
0.67 |
15.0 |
5.0 |
| Nov 4 vs. Georgia Southern W, 3-0 |
3 |
15 |
5.00 |
3 |
27 |
.444 |
0 |
0.00 |
1 |
0.33 |
1 |
0.33 |
0 |
4 |
4 |
1.33 |
18.0 |
6.0 |
| Overall |
6 |
26 |
4.33 |
5 |
44 |
.477 |
0 |
0.00 |
4 |
0.67 |
1 |
0.17 |
0 |
6 |
6 |
1.00 |
33.0 |
5.5 |
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Sydney Alvis, Coastal Carolina (Sr., DS, Maidans, Va.)
Coastal Carolina senior defensive specialist Sydney Alvis led the Chanticleers’ defensive efforts, averaging 5.86 digs per set, in a pair of matches over Georgia Southern and Georgia State. Alvis recorded a match-high of 26 digs in the win over the Eagles, her second-most in a match this season. She then posted 15 digs in a three-set sweep of the Panthers.
| Alvis' Weekly Stats |
| Match |
s |
k |
k/s |
e |
ta |
pct |
a |
a/s |
sa |
sa/s |
digs |
d/s |
bs |
ba |
tot |
b/s |
pts |
pts/s |
| Nov 2 vs. Georgia Southern W, 3-1 |
4 |
0 |
0.00 |
0 |
1 |
.000 |
2 |
0.50 |
0 |
0.00 |
26 |
6.50 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.00 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
| Nov 4 vs. Georgia State W, 3-0 |
3 |
0 |
0.00 |
0 |
0 |
- |
1 |
0.33 |
0 |
0.00 |
15 |
5.00 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.00 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
| Overall |
7 |
0 |
0.00 |
0 |
1 |
.000 |
3 |
0.43 |
0 |
0.00 |
41 |
5.86 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.00 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
SETTER OF THE WEEK
Becky Porter, Appalachian State (Sr., S, Charlotte, N.C.)
Appalachian State senior setter Becky Porter tallied 81 assists (13.50 assists/set) in two Mountaineer sweeps. Porter tallied 39 assists (13.00 assists/set), while adding three kills and eight digs in a win over Georgia State. The Sun Belt leader in assist average added 42 assists (14.00 assists/set) with four kills and seven digs in a sweep of Georgia Southern.
| Porter's Weekly Stats |
| Match |
s |
k |
k/s |
e |
ta |
pct |
a |
a/s |
sa |
sa/s |
digs |
d/s |
bs |
ba |
tot |
b/s |
pts |
pts/s |
| Nov 2 vs. Georgia State W, 3-0 |
3 |
3 |
1.00 |
0 |
3 |
1.000 |
39 |
13.00 |
1 |
0.33 |
8 |
2.67 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0.67 |
5.5 |
1.8 |
| Nov 4 vs. Georgia Southern W, 3-0 |
3 |
4 |
1.33 |
0 |
10 |
.400 |
42 |
14.00 |
0 |
0.00 |
7 |
2.33 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0.33 |
4.5 |
1.5 |
| Overall |
6 |
7 |
1.17 |
0 |
13 |
.538 |
81 |
13.50 |
1 |
0.17 |
15 |
2.50 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
0.50 |
10.0 |
1.7 |
FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Rachael DeMarcus, South Alabama (Fr., S, Lexington, Ky.)
South Alabama freshman setter Rachael DeMarcus totaled 78 assists, 14 digs and four blocks in two victories over Troy. DeMarcus recorded her third double-double of the season, finishing with a career-high 42 assists and 11 digs, along with three kills and three total blocks, in the weekend match between the in-state rivals. Earlier in the week, she posted 36 assists, three digs and a block in a three-set road sweep.
| DeMarcus' Weekly Stats |
| Match |
s |
k |
k/s |
e |
ta |
pct |
a |
a/s |
sa |
sa/s |
digs |
d/s |
bs |
ba |
tot |
b/s |
pts |
pts/s |
| Oct 31 at Troy W, 3-0 |
3 |
0 |
0.00 |
0 |
4 |
.000 |
36 |
12.00 |
1 |
0.33 |
3 |
1.00 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0.33 |
1.5 |
0.5 |
| Nov 3 vs. Troy W, 3-1 |
4 |
3 |
0.75 |
0 |
6 |
.500 |
42 |
10.50 |
0 |
0.00 |
11 |
2.75 |
0 |
3 |
3 |
0.75 |
4.5 |
1.1 |
| Overall |
7 |
3 |
0.43 |
0 |
10 |
.300 |
78 |
11.14 |
1 |
0.14 |
14 |
2.00 |
0 |
4 |
4 |
0.57 |
6.0 |
0.9 |
2018 Weekly Award Winners
Offensive Player
August 27: Anett Nemeth, Coastal Carolina
September 3: Madison Hill, UTA
September 10: Amy Pflughaupt, Texas State
September 17: Cheyenne Huskey, Texas State
September 24: Carlisa May, Arkansas State
October 1: Janell Fitzgerald, Texas State
October 8: Cheyenne Hayes, Troy
October 15: Carlisa May, Arkansas State
October 22: Madison Hill, UTA
October 29: Madison Hill, UTA
November 5: Kara Spicer, Appalachian State
Defensive Player
August 27: Tatum Ticknor, Arkansas State
September 3: Madison Daigle, Texas State
September 10: Veronica Marin, Little Rock
September 17: Madelyn St. Germain, UTA
September 24: Veronica Marin, Little Rock
October 1: Madelyn St. Germain, UTA
October 8: Veronica Marin, Little Rock and Sydney Alvis, Coastal Carolina
October 15: Veronica Marin, Little Rock
October 22: Sydney Davis, Louisiana
October 29: Sydney Alvis, Coastal Carolina
November 5: Sydney Alvis, Coastal Carolina
Setter
August 27: Ellie Watkins, Arkansas State
September 3: Becky Porter, Appalachian State and Emily DeWalt, Texas State
September 10: Becky Porter, Appalachian State
September 17: Emily DeWalt, Texas State
September 24: Emily DeWalt, Texas State
October 1: Emily DeWalt, Texas State
October 8: Amara Anderson, Troy
October 15: Amara Anderson, Troy
October 22: Emily DeWalt, Texas State
October 29: Emily DeWalt, Texas State
November 5: Becky Porter, Appalachian State
Freshman
August 27: Anett Nemeth, Coastal Carolina
September 3: Emily DeWalt, Texas State
September 10: Anett Nemeth, Coastal Carolina
September 17: Emily DeWalt, Texas State
September 24: Emily DeWalt, Texas State
October 1: Anett Nemeth, Coastal Carolina and Emily DeWalt, Texas State
October 8: Anett Nemeth, Coastal Carolina
October 15: Emily DeWalt, Texas State
October 22: Kate Blasingame, ULM
October 29: Anett Nemeth, Coastal Carolina
November 5: Rachael DeMarcus, South Alabama
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Wednesday, November 7
*Georgia Southern at Georgia State, 5:30 p.m.
Friday, November 9
*Georgia State at Georgia Southern, 5:30 p.m.
*Little Rock at Louisiana, 6:30 p.m.
*Arkansas State at ULM, 6:30 p.m.
*Coastal Carolina at South Alabama, 6:30 p.m.
*Texas State at UTA, 6:30 p.m.
*Appalachian State at Troy (ESPN+), 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, November 10
*Little Rock at ULM, 6:30 p.m.
*Coastal Carolina at Troy (ESPN+), 6:30 p.m.
Sunday, November 11
*Arkansas State at Louisiana, Noon
*Appalachian State at South Alabama, Noon
*Sun Belt Conference contest
All Times are Central and Subject to Change