2018 Sun Belt Volleyball News and Notes:
Standings | Composite Schedule | Stats |
Championship Information
AROUND #SUNBELTVB
• Sun Belt volleyball wraps up non-conference play midweek and opens conference play this weekend.
• Coastal Carolina’s weekend matches at Georgia State and Georgia Southern have been postponed as
the team has relocated in various locations as a result of Hurricane Florence. These matches will be rescheduled later in the season.
• In the seasons the Sun Belt has played under a divisional format (2000-12, 2016-17), Arkansas owns the most division titles with five among current Sun Belt members, followed by Little Rock (2), Coastal Carolina and Texas State (1). In fact, Little Rock and Arkansas State are the only schools in conference history to win East Division and West Division titles.
• Several Sun Belt squads closed out non-conference play this past week on positive notes:
Little Rock – The Trojans’ eight non-conference wins are one shy of matching their 2017 total and match their best start in non-conference play since winning eight in 2013.
Arkansas State – With their sixth-straight win, the Red Wolves won the Golden Hurricane Classic, their first non-conference tournament title since 2015.
Georgia Southern – The Eagles captured the GATA Challenge and enter the week on a three-match winning streak.
ULM – The Warhawks got their first home win in 679 days with a sweep of Grambling State on Sept. 14.
UTA – The Mavericks won six of their final seven non-conference matches to close that portion of their schedule with a winning record (6-4).
Texas State – The Bobcats won the Sparky Classic, hosted by Arizona State. Texas State dropped just one set and was the only team in the Sun Belt to win four matches last week. The Bobcats captured two tournaments in the same year (Creeds & Crests Classic and Sparky Classic) for the first time since 1998.
• Among the NCAA Division I individual statistical leaders entering the week, Arkansas State senior outside hitter Clarissa May is in the top 15 in four categories – seventh in attacks per set (12.91), 12th in kills per set (4.58), 13th in points per set (5.08) and 15th in total kills (206). Little Rock senior middle blocker Veronica Marin ranks third in total blocks (71) and 19th in blocks per set (1.45), ULM senior middle blocker Taylor Wood ranks tied for 13th in blocks per set (1.50) and Georgia Southern senior middle hitter Lauren Reichard ranks tied for ninth (66) and sophomore middle hitter Lauren Hager ranks tied for 15th (63) in total blocks.
• 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.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Cheyenne Huskey, Texas State (Jr., OH/S, Columbus, Texas)
Texas State junior outside hitter/setter Cheyenne Huskey helped lead the Bobcats to a perfect 4-0 week and the Sparky Classic title. Huskey registered 56 kills (4.67/set) and just 11 errors on 91 swings for a blistering .495 hitting clip. She added 32 digs (2.67/set), seven aces, seven blocks and three assists. Huskey began her week by breaking the school record for most kills in a three-set match with 21 in a road win at UTSA. She then posted 15 digs, 13 kills and five aces against Northern Arizona before tallying 14 kills and just one error on 18 swings (.722) in a sweep over Arizona State. Huskey was named to the all-tournament team for her efforts.
| Huskey'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 |
| Sep 11 at UTSA W, 3-0 |
3 |
21 |
7.00 |
5 |
30 |
.533 |
0 |
0.00 |
0 |
0.00 |
2 |
0.67 |
0 |
3 |
3 |
1.00 |
22.5 |
7.5 |
| Sep 14 vs. Gonzaga W, 3-0 |
2 |
8 |
4.00 |
3 |
18 |
.278 |
1 |
0.50 |
0 |
0.00 |
9 |
4.50 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.00 |
8.0 |
4.0 |
| Sep 15 at Northern Ariz. W, 3-1 |
4 |
13 |
3.25 |
2 |
25 |
.440 |
2 |
0.50 |
5 |
1.25 |
15 |
3.75 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0.25 |
18.5 |
4.6 |
| Sep 15 at Arizona State W, 3-0 |
3 |
14 |
4.67 |
1 |
18 |
.722 |
0 |
0.00 |
2 |
0.67 |
6 |
2.00 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
1.00 |
18.0 |
6.0 |
| Overall |
12 |
56 |
4.67 |
11 |
91 |
.495 |
3 |
0.25 |
7 |
0.58 |
32 |
2.67 |
1 |
6 |
7 |
0.58 |
67.0 |
5.6 |
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Madelyn St. Germain, UTA (Jr., LB, League City, Texas)
UTA junior libero Madelyn St. Germain had a big weekend for the Mavericks, averaging 5.50 digs per set and recording at least 15 digs in each match of the Maverick Invitational. Against Grand Canyon, St. Germain picked up 21 digs with three assists over the four-set match. She upped that to six assists to go along with 19 digs against Belmont and added 15 digs against Sam Houston State.
| St. Germain'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 |
| Sep 14 vs. Grand Canyon W, 3-1 |
4 |
0 |
0.00 |
0 |
0 |
- |
3 |
0.75 |
1 |
0.25 |
21 |
5.25 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.00 |
1.0 |
0.3 |
| Sep 15 vs. Belmont W, 3-0 |
3 |
0 |
0.00 |
1 |
1 |
-1.000 |
6 |
2.00 |
0 |
0.00 |
19 |
6.33 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.00 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
| Sep 15 vs. Sam Houston St. L, 3-0 |
3 |
0 |
0.00 |
0 |
0 |
- |
5 |
1.67 |
0 |
0.00 |
15 |
5.00 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.00 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
| Overall |
10 |
0 |
0.00 |
1 |
1 |
-1.000 |
14 |
1.40 |
1 |
0.10 |
55 |
5.50 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.00 |
1.0 |
0.1 |
SETTER & FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Emily DeWalt, Texas State (Fr., S, Helotes, Texas)
Texas State freshman setter Emily DeWalt helped the Bobcats go undefeated for the week and take home the Sparky Classic title. DeWalt was named Most Valuable Player, earning her second tournament MVP honors of the season. She finished her week with a .409 hitting percentage, 157 assists (12.08/set), 33 digs (2.54/set), 11 kills (0.85/set), four service aces and two blocks.
| DeWalt'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 |
| Sep 11 at UTSA W, 3-0 |
3 |
0 |
0.00 |
0 |
1 |
.000 |
41 |
13.67 |
1 |
0.33 |
8 |
2.67 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.00 |
1.0 |
0.3 |
| Sep 14 vs. Gonzaga W, 3-0 |
3 |
4 |
1.33 |
1 |
7 |
.429 |
32 |
10.67 |
0 |
0.00 |
11 |
3.67 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0.33 |
4.5 |
1.5 |
| Sep 15 at Northern Ariz. W, 3-1 |
4 |
4 |
1.00 |
1 |
7 |
.429 |
46 |
11.50 |
1 |
0.25 |
9 |
2.25 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.00 |
5.0 |
1.3 |
| Sep 15 at Arizona State W, 3-0 |
3 |
3 |
1.00 |
0 |
7 |
.429 |
38 |
12.67 |
2 |
0.67 |
5 |
1.67 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0.33 |
5.5 |
1.8 |
| Overall |
13 |
11 |
0.85 |
2 |
22 |
.409 |
157 |
12.08 |
4 |
0.31 |
33 |
2.54 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
0.15 |
16.0 |
1.2 |
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
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
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
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
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Tuesday, September 18
Jackson State at ULM, 6:30 p.m.
Troy at Alabama State, 7:00 p.m.
Friday, September 21
*Appalachian State at Georgia Southern (ESPN+), 5:30 p.m.
*South Alabama at Little Rock, 6:00 p.m.
*Troy at Arkansas State, 6:30 p.m.
*UTA at Louisiana, 6:30 p.m.
*Texas State at ULM, 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, September 22
*Appalachian State at Georgia State, 6:00 p.m.
*Troy at Little Rock, 6:30 p.m.
Sunday, September 23
*South Alabama at Arkansas State, Noon
*Texas State at Louisiana, Noon
*UTA at ULM, Noon
*Sun Belt Conference contest
All Times are Central and Subject to Change