2022 Season: One Last Time Around the Block

LTK5H

LTK5H

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The most successful senior class in TXST history is getting an assist on making it to their 4th NCAA Tournament. The added Covid eligibility year means 4 players who should have exhausted eligibility get another shot at something no other players in Bobcat history have done.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1474779808278224899

Disclaimer for any player, relative or coach that reads this: Please take my comments with a grain of salt, as I know enough to have a somewhat informed opinion, but certainly not an expert. Volleyball is my favorite team on campus and I’m pulling for every player and coach 100%, even if I am pointing out something that is less than excellent.
 
LTK5H

LTK5H

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Roster Talk

Key losses:

MB Tyeranee Scott – All SBC 1st Team 1x, 2nd Team 3x, All Time Bobcat leader in Block Assists
L Kayla Grandado – 1,235 digs
DS Brooke Johnson – 1,222 digs

Obviously Tyeranee was a force up front, but losing those two shorties in the back row can’t be understated. Those three were the backbone of our defense the past 4 years. Brooke was also our backup S, so we're rollin' thin there now.

Key Returners:

S Emily DeWalt – 2021 SBC Player of the Year, 4x SBC Setter of the Year, 4x All SBC 1st Team, All-America Honorable Mention (2021)
#17 is the heart of this team, no questions asked. We already knew that going into last season, but when she went out with her shoulder injury, they simply weren’t the same team. Stock up on those prayer candles or sacrifice a goat, but we need her at 100% for this squad to reach its full potential.

OH Janell Fitgerald – 2021 SBC Offensive POY, 3x All SBC 1st Team, 1x All SBC 2nd Team
Last year I was looking for Janell to evolve into a 6-rotation player, and she did just that. She also had to adjust to another bigtime scorer coming in, and I thought she handled that like a boss. Seemed like HCSH had #16 holding down that Right Side once the rotation settled in and I would think that’s where she spends most of this season.

OH Jada Gardner - 1x All SBC 2nd Team
Transferring back to Texas from Maryland, Jada was an offensive force for the Bobcats with a hair over 3 Kills/set. Solid on serve receive as well, seeing more serves than anyone other than Kayla. My guess is she stays on the left side, splitting time with Caitlan.

OH Caitlan Buettner
I said it last year and nothing’s changed: She isn't flashy, doesn't jump out of the gym, and doesn't rack up the accolades…she’s just high level rock solid, and I’m not sure where we’d be without her. 3rd on the (returning) squad in points, points/set, kills, kills/set, and total attacks. Would love to see her take the next step and bring her hitting % up

MB Tessa Marshall
With Jillian battling some injuries last season, Tessa really took advantage of the opportunity and owned the 2nd MB position behind Tyeranee. 4th on the (returning) squad in points, points/set, kills, and total attacks. Hit an outstanding .323 last year – best on the team – so hopefully we see 17 setting 5 on the regular.

MB Jillian Slaughter
Hopefully Jillian is back at 100% this season, because 8 + 5 in the middle should be an absolutely dominant combo, both blocking and attacking. She was a huge part of the 2020 squad with 197 Kills and 106 Blocks.

OH Lauren Teske
I think Lauren was the one who sacrificed the most time on the court last year with Jada’s arrival, as there are only so many rotations available. Last year I wrote that I thought she was possibly our most complete player, and when she saw the floor, she produced like it: In only 50 sets played, she still scored 105.5pts on 93 Kills. Would love to see her on the court more this season, and I think her hitting and error numbers would get better with regular reps…the question is where?

S Ryann Torres
As dominant as Emily is, I think HCSH has to strategically get Ryann real reps this year. She’ll likely be our #1 S next year and it was obvious she wasn’t ready when thrust into the role when 17 went down. How much of that was her vs changing the offense from a 6-1 to a 5-2 (which we haven’t ever run since 17 came to SMTX, and I doubt Torres has ever run), changing player positions to find the right rotation with Jada coming in, etc, I have no clue. HCSH was a S and he wouldn’t have recruited her if he didn’t believe in her ability, so hopefully he has a plan to get her ready to take over in 2023.

OH Courtney Heiser
Another one who didn’t see the floor very much, but showed some flashes and scored in bunches at times.

DS Jaqueline Lee / Kayla Tello
These two saw spot duty behind Granado and Johnson and had almost identical per set numbers. I’d have Tello slightly ahead of Lee going off of last year’s Sets Played, but there are some huge shoes to fill on that back row and plenty of opportunity to grab the reps for both.

Newcomers:
I won’t speculate about any of the domestic freshman coming in, because unless one of them was a Top 50 / All-American type, it’s not realistic to expect them to see the court with the upperclassmen ahead of them.

DS Alyssa Ortega
Transferring in from SFA, her Digs/set numbers were well above the team leader in ~60% as many sets played. My bet is that she is our Libero.

MB Jade Defraeye
Given that she’s a member of the French National Program and a starting MB in the French First League, one has to think she came to play matches, not develop in practice. Y'all know I love me some height, so a 6'2" MB coming in has me tickled.


One of the aspects of this team I’ve been down on over the years is overall height. It’s not where I’d like it to be (there’s not a player over 6’2” in our rotation), but if Defraeye is a regular up front at 6’2”, that’s an upgrade over Scott at 6’. I don’t think they’ll see the court much this year, if at all, but Hanner and Wunsch at 6’2” is good news for the future as well.

If there's a negative to our deep roster is that its REALLY deep. We've got 22 players on the roster, which means that more than half the team won't see the floor this year. HCSH has got to be a witch in the locker room keeping everyone's mind right and focused.
 
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LTK5H

LTK5H

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Sun Belt Conference

14 Teams, 2 Divisions of 7
Play your Division plus 2 teams from the other Division, 2 matches each, played on back-to-back days.

There are 4 legit teams in the Sun Belt: Texas State, South Alabama, Coastal Carolina, James Madison

We’re kind of getting hosed having to play the two best teams from the East right off the bat, but I would rather face them with this squad. It does mean we’re in for some really crappy schedules and RPI in the future though.

South Alabama
HCSH is going to have to figure something out here, because the Jaguars straight smoked us in the 2 matches last year: 3-0, 3-0, and only 1 set was within 5pts. USA brings back 7 of their top 8 scorers.
Bobcats play @ Mobile, 5th SBC series

Coastal Carolina
The Chanticleers look to be in complete rebuild mode, losing their top 5 scorers from last season. The roster does have a familiar feel though, as it’s loaded with international players.
Close the season @ Conway and you can bet that match dictates seeding/byes for the SBC tourney.

James Madison
The Dukes join the conference coming off a year when they absolutely had a shot at the NCAAs, but were barred from the conference tournament because of the jump to the SBC. They have finished 1st or 2nd in conf 6 of the last 7yrs and made the national tournament in 2016 and 2017.
1st home conference matches of the year are 9/30 and 10/1 – that should be on your calendar, as it’s the best SBC opponent we’re going to see at home this season.

If I were asked to predict the conference this season: USA, TXST, CCU, JMU
ULL is probably the best of the rest, but I don’t think they’ll realistically challenge any of those top 4.

Have to go with USA, who was dominant over TXST last year, until proven otherwise. It's crazy to think that we're looking up at them, but maybe this squad needs a target to aim at after being on top for so long?
 
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LTK5H

LTK5H

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The Schedule

To put it mildly, this year's schedule is ass, especially at home. Really surprised after how awesome our slate has been the past couple of years.

UCLA is the only ranked opponent. Hawai'i and USA received votes that would put them at 35 and 40 respectively. For reference, TXST would be at 41. No OOC matchups in Strahan outside of the tournament. No Texas or Baylor or Rice sprinkled in somewhere. My only thought is that maybe HCSH thinks the team needed tournament work and playing multiple games in a short time frame?

Zero chance of an At-Large bid to the NCAA’s this season, so we’ve got to win the Sun Belt.

UIW Tourney: 2x Incarnate Word, Houston Baptist
UIW was 13-19 last year. HBU is decent, but not at our level

Hawai'i Tourney: Hawai'i, UCLA, West Virginia
UCLA is a perennial Top 10-15 program. Hawai'i is typically Top 25 and going to the NCAAs every year. WVU made the tournament last year on the sole fact that they play in the B12 - their RPI was 50 vs ours at 51.

Bobcat Tourney: SHSU, Ole Miss, Wake Forest
Sam isn't bad, but not on our level. Ole Miss is going to be a tough match - 57 RPI and went to the NCAAs last year. Wake Forest was a game above .500 overall and 6-12 in conf.

TCU Tourney: ACU, Alabama, TCU
ACU was 9-15 last year. We beat Bama 3-1 in SMTX last year. TCU is the worst team in the B12.

I think we win 3 of those tournaments and go 10-2 w/ losses to Hawai'i and UCLA.

Compare to 2021 - 3 ranked teams, 4 tournament teams, 9 P5/big name teams
#1 Kentucky - reigning NCAA Champs
#2 Texas - 2020 NCAA runners up
#10 Ohio State - 2020 Sweet 16
#26 Dayton - seeded 1 slot ahead of us in the tourney
Cincinnati - not great in 2020, but reg season AAC Champs and Sweet 16 in 2019
Texas A&M - 9-9 last year, 7th in SEC
Miami - 11-7 last year, 6th in ACC
aTm CC - 14-5, 38 seed in NCAA Tourney
Alabama - 7-15 last year, 10th in SEC
Texas Tech - 9-13, 7th in B12
Rhode Island - 7-8 last year, 4 straight losing seasons
Click to expand...
and 2020 - 2 ranked teams, 6 tournament teams (2019), 5 P5/big name teams
Texas - Perennial Top 5 powerhouse. We've won 1 set in 9 meetings vs the Longhorns. Hosted Regional, made Sweet 16.
Baylor - New to the top, but really, really good. Were #1 for a couple of weeks last year. Swept us the last 2 years. Hosted Regional, made Final 4.
Texas A&M - Has not been good traditionally, but a very good year last year (beat us 3-1). Hosted Super Regional, made Sweet 16.
SFA - Dominant Southland team. 31-2 last year. Lost to USC 1st round.
Rice - Very good program that has made the NCAA Tournament the last several years. Swept us last year, we beat them twice in 2018. Lost to Texas A&M 2nd round.
Alabama - P5, but not very good. Hasn't been to NCAA Tourney since 2014.
Tulane, SMU - Not good, but recognizable names.
Click to expand...
 
LTK5H

LTK5H

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LTK5H said:
OH Jada Gardner - 1x All SBC 2nd Team
Transferring back to Texas from Maryland, Jada was an offensive force for the Bobcats with a hair over 3 Kills/set. Solid on serve receive as well, seeing more serves than anyone other than Kayla. My guess is she stays on the left side, splitting time with Caitlan.
Click to expand...
Camp Questions: Jada Gardner

Following a four-year career at the University of Maryland, Jada Gardner made an immediate impact throughout her first season as a Bobcat in 2021.

Gardner, a 6-foot-1 outside hitter out of Cibolo, Texas by way of Byron P. Steele II High School, earned All-Sun Belt Second Team honors and was a Sun Belt All-Tournament selection during the Bobcats' run to the conference tournament championship match last season. She, alongside fellow outside hitter Janell Fitzgerald, were the only two Bobcat student-athletes to register 300-or-more (331) kills on the season.

The graduate student will enter the 2022 campaign having already picked up one preseason accolade as she joined Fitzgerald and Emily DeWalt on the Sun Belt's Preseason All-Conference team.

Following a low-impact practice session earlier in the week, Gardner answered a few questions:

Question: What's a pregame like for Jada? What gets you ready for a volleyball match?

Answer: Honestly, there's no music playlist or anything like that. I just try to do the same thing every day. I usually try to leave for the arena at the same time. I don't really do anything crazy. I just come in and do everything that I need to do and just relax until its match time. I really don't have any thoughts in my head. I'm very straight forward and not much thinking. I usually don't listen to music.

Q: What flips the switch, for you, to go from relaxed to time to take the court?

A: For me, I just like to keep everything on the same level. I just try to stay calm.

Q: You're related to Shane Battier. What's the best piece of advice he has ever given you?

A: Yeah, he's my mom's half-brother. And there's a quote he always tells me: "Always be so good that the coaches can't refuse to play you," so that's always a good thing to think about.

Q: You signed from Maryland out of high school and spent four seasons as a Terrapin. What factored into that decision?

A: I really wanted to play high-level volleyball. I really liked the campus, the coach and I really felt like I fit in. It was so close to (Washington) D.C. and the family aspect, because it felt like we were all super close.

Q: What went into your decision to transfer to Texas State? And what are your thoughts about it so far?

A: Honestly, it was closer to home, and I know Sean really well. It's been good so far. It's different. But it's good to experience new and different things.

Q: You and Coach Huiet go back several years, huh?

A: Yeah, he coached me in club (volleyball) for two seasons back in 2015 and 2016. Then when I went to Maryland, we stayed in touch. I'd text him and call him every once in a while. He's just been in my life to a long time.

Q: Obviously, the Sun Belt's preseason awards came out on Tuesday. And you finished last season strong with all-conference and all-tournament honors. What can fans expect from you this season?

A: Just that I leave everything out on the court everything we play. I just want to finish this season with my best year.
 
LTK5H

LTK5H

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LTK5H said:
OH Janell Fitgerald – 2021 SBC Offensive POY, 3x All SBC 1st Team, 1x All SBC 2nd Team
Last year I was looking for Janell to evolve into a 6-rotation player, and she did just that. She also had to adjust to another bigtime scorer coming in, and I thought she handled that like a boss. Seemed like HCSH had #16 holding down that Right Side once the rotation settled in and I would think that’s where she spends most of this season.
Click to expand...
States Up Podcast: Janell Fitzgerald

In the latest States Up podcast, Texas State volleyball's Janell Fitzgerald dissects the impact of the last two seasons, how her family has influenced her on and off the court, and what it is like to do NIL deals and develop a personal brand as a college athlete.

Fitzgerald is one of best outside hitters in the Sun Belt as evidenced by being the conference's Offensive Player of the Year last year as well as a three-time All-Sun Belt First Team honoree in her career. She has helped the Bobcats win three Sun Belt titles in her four years so far to go with a runner-up finish in 2021. The Mansfield, Texas native is already a member of the program's 1,000-career kills club.

She is also one of the most followed Texas State student-athletes on social media and has been active in the NIL space since the rules allowed NCAA athletes to make money off their name, image and likeness starting in the summer of 2021.

In the podcast, Fitzgerald goes into the decision of coming back for a fifth year, what kind of motivation the team has coming off last year's loss to South Alabama in the Sun Belt tournament, the type of support she receives from her family, and what pieces of advice she would give to other student-athletes when it comes to building a personal brand and getting NIL deals.

The podcast can be heard on Spotify, Apple, Amazon Music, and Google.

Fans can also access the podcast at https://txstatebobcats.com/podcasts.
 
stallionjockey

stallionjockey

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Got tickets to the Saturday games for the TCU tournament. My 8 year old has really gotten into volleyball so excited to take her to see the Bobcats in Fort Worth.

Also, great posts @LTK5H, some great info here!
 
LTK5H

LTK5H

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Thanks! That's a great age for kids and sports - they can really dig in to who and what is happening and have it stick. VB is fast paced so it keeps their attention much better than football or baseball, and most every point is decided by something exciting like a spike or block. I was coaching my daughter's YMCA teams when she was that age and taking her to Texas matches. By the time she was 10, she was in camp at TXST.
 
slycat

slycat

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Seems like the SBC will be top heavy again. I agree that based on the SOS, they will have to win the conference tournament to play in the postseason. JMU is a great add to boost conference RPI but the other new three help tank it.

East Division
Coastal Carolina – 90 (7)
James Madison – 90 (6)
Georgia Southern – 67 (1)
Marshall – 49
Old Dominion – 39
Georgia State – 31
App State – 26

West Division
South Alabama – 92 (8)
Texas State – 88 (5)
Troy – 63
Louisiana – 61 (1)
Arkansas State – 39
Southern Miss – 31
ULM – 18
 
LTK5H

LTK5H

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LTK5H said:
If there's a negative to our deep roster is that its REALLY deep. We've got 22 players on the roster, which means that more than half the team won't see the floor this year. HCSH has got to be a witch in the locker room keeping everyone's mind right and focused.
Click to expand...
16 players saw the court this weekend.

Torres got in 3 sets over both matches vs UIW. Only 3 A, but she served like a boss in the morning match, when she came in and rattled off 4 straight.
Teske, Ellison and Heiser all got some run, with Teske playing in 7 sets and getting the start this morning...but committed 6 service errors. At lease HCSH let her play through them, but she's gotta clean those up. She also knocked down back-to-back aces at one point, so there's that...
Looks like all the shorties got in but Ortega is going to be the L.
Walsh and Defraeye are the only 2 newcomers to see the floor.
 
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LTK5H

LTK5H

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1st poll of the season is out and the Bobcats are....37th, w/ 3 points.
Compared to last week's preseason poll when we were 41st, w/ 3 points.

SBC update:
USA lost to Ball State, who won the MAC and beat Michigan in the 1st rd of the NCAA's last year. No shame there.
Coastal swept all sets vs 3 bad teams.
JMU is 3-0 but had to go to 5 vs a Kent State squad that was 12-18 last year.
 
LTK5H

LTK5H

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SBC update: WHOA! Lots of unexpected Ls around the conference leaders this weekend.

USA: Swept by Tulsa (2-4 this season, 14-16 last), lost to SFA 3-1, and barely beat McNeese in 5 (1-5 this season, 18-11 last)
I wonder if they've had some injuries, because I would have predicted 3-0 for them.

Coastal: Swept by aTm (not surprising - aTm's program is on the rise), lost to TCU 3-1...something to keep an eye on as TCU has a new coach and this is their only win of the season so far (played aTm and 2x Top 5 teams), swept Memphis.

JMU: Swept by Florida State (NCAAs last couple years), swept by Yale (meh program, but not terrible), struggled to beat FAMU 3-2 (0-7 this year, NCAAs last year as SWAC champ)

So everyone went 1-2, but I feel MUCH better about not only the opponents we lost to vs theirs, but the opponent we beat vs theirs. Tough weekend for the Sun Belt.
 
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