MATCH 30: Arkansas State (28-1) vs. Michigan State (18-13)
Friday, Dec. 4 • 7:00 p.m. CDT • First Round NCAA Tournament
Alaska Airlines Arena • Seattle, Wash.
Series: First meeting
Live Stats: AStateStats.com; Live Video: GoHuskies.com
QUICK HITS
The Red Wolves won the Sun Belt Conference Tournament 3-2 over Appalachian State Nov. 22 to clinch their first berth in the NCAA Tournament since 1999, which was the last time Arkansas State won the SBC Tournament. It is the team's fifth appearance in the NCAA's.
A-State has the longest winning streak in the nation at 24 matches after the three wins in the SBC Tournament Nov. 20-22.
Arkansas State went 16-0 in Sun Belt play to win its first outright overall conference championship since 1998 and the team's first championship of any kind since claiming the 2011 SBC West Division crown. The undefeated run through the league was the first time since 1996 (9-0) that had occurred.
This is the first time since 1995 that the Red Wolves went undefeated in conference play and won the SBC Tournament.
A-State racked up several postseason awards at the SBC Tournament Banquet with Markie Schaedig claiming her second straight Defensive Student-Athlete of the Year award. Mallory Warrington was named the SBC Setter of the Year and Carlisa May was Freshman of the Year. Those three along with Kelsey Reis were first-team All-SBC selections, while Darby Graff was named second-team All-SBC. Head Coach David Rehr won his first career SBC Coach of the Year award to round out the honors.
Arkansas State is ranked No. 24 in the latest AVCA Top-25 Poll.
A-State holds a 979-498-5 record all-time in volleyball and is in its 41st season of play after beginning the sport in 1975.
A-State vs. Michigan State Series History
Arkansas State has never played Michigan State in volleyball in its history. The Spartans are 18-13 this year and finished 10-10 in Big 10 play, good for a tie for seventh place.
A-State has played teams from the state of Michigan just five times in its history and holds a 4-1 record in those matches. The Red Wolves are 2-0 versus both Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan, but 0-1 against Western Michigan.
The Red Wolves are 0-5 all-time versus current members of the Big 10 Conference. A-State is 0-2 all-time against Illinois and -3 in matches versus Indiana. The last meeting was in 2010 against Indiana in the IU Adidas Classic that A-State lost 3-0.
Head Coach David Rehr has never faced a team from the Big 10 Conference.
If A-State were to win Friday night against Michigan State, the team would play the winner of the host school Washington and Denver. The Red Wolves have never played Washington in their history, but have played Denver 20 times as both were members of the Sun Belt Conference from 1999-2011.
A-State trails the all-time series with the Pioneers 8-13. Denver is 27-6 and won the Summit League regular-season and tournament titles. Washington is 28-2 on the year and won a share of the Pac-12 title. The Huskies are ranked No. 1 in the latest AVCA Poll and are the No. 5 national seed in the tournament.
A-State in the NCAA Tournament
Arkansas State is making its fifth appearance in the NCAA Tournament (1992, 1994, 1995, and 1999). A-State currently holds an 0-4 record with first round losses to Long Beach State (3-1) in 1992, Montana (3-1) in 1994, Texas Tech (3-2) in 1995, and Pepperdine (3-0) in 1999.
The team was tied for the second-longest hiatus in making the NCAA Tournament with Northern Arizona, who also made its last appearance in 1999. Villanova was the longest (1997).
Coach Rehr has never led a team to the Division I NCAA Tournament, but has coached nine teams to the NJCAA National Tournament and won two national championships.
A-State was able to clinch a berth in the NCAA Tournament with wins over Georgia Southern (3-0), Little Rock (3-0), and Appalachian State (3-2). The win over App State was of the come-from-behind variety after the Mountaineers led 2-0.
On the Road Again
A-State will travel to Seattle, Wash., for its first-round matchup with Michigan State and potential second-round match against the winner of Washington and Denver. The Red Wolves will travel approximately 2, 217 miles to Seattle to play the Spartans, who will travel approximately 2,280 miles.
A-State's distance to its first round location is the fifth-longest in the tournament, while Michigan State's comes in at No. 3. Hawaii traveling to Texas A&M (3,828 miles) is tops on the list, with Cleveland State traveling to USC (2,344 miles) second. Sandwiched between MSU and A-State is Michigan with a 2,239-mile trek to UCLA.
Playing on the road or a neutral site is nothing new to the Red Wolves this season. The squad only played eight games at home (8-0), but 21 on away or neutral floors and went 20-1 in those matches. A-State is 13-0 in true road matches and 7-1 in neutral site matchups on the season. The team didn't play a home match until Sept. 25.
Red Wolves in the Polls
A-State is currently ranked No. 24 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top-25 Poll. The Red Wolves made their first appearance in school history in the poll last week when they finally checked in at No. 25 after six consecutive weeks in the “others receiving votes and listed on two or more ballots category.”
Arkansas State moved into the AVCA Poll at No. 25 two weeks ago after claiming the Sun Belt Conference Tournament champioship and moved up to No. 24 this week despite not playing a match.
The Red Wolves moved to No. 15 in the PrepVolleyball.com Poll this week, their highest ranking of the season by the poll.
A-State was made its debut in the PrepVolleyball Poll earlier in the season at No. 33 before working its way to No. 15.
Arkansas State was 16th in the final NCAA's Rating Percentage Index (RPI) report that was released before the field of 64 was announced.
Michigan State is ranked 54th in the RPI, while Washington checks in at No. 8 and Denver is ranked 87th.
Blocks Carry A-State to NCAA Tournament
The Red Wolves used a strong blocking game to get to the NCAA Tournament as the team outblocked each opponent in all three matches of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.
A-State outblocked Georgia Southern 6-5 in round one before registering seven blocks to Little Rock's four in the semifinals. The team exploded for 17 blocks against Appalachian State in the championship as the Mountaineers only tallied two.
The 17 blocks are tied for the most this season by the Red Wolves as the team also recorded 17 rejections against Troy on Sept. 19. The team also trailed that match 2-0 before rallying to win 3-2.
Kariana Castanon-Hill had a career-high 11 blocks, which is also the most by an A-State player this season, while Darby Graff had 10 blocks of her own.
Red Wolves Rack Up Postseason Awards
A-State earned five all-conference selections and took home four of the five individual awards that were unveiled at the SBC Tournament Banquest on Nov. 19.
Mallory Warrington, Markie Schaedig, Kelsey Reis, and Carlisa May earned first-team All-SBC accolades, while Darby Graff was second-team all-conference. The five all-conference selections are the most in school history. It was Schaedig's second straight first-team selection, while Warrington earned her first career first-team honors after being named second-team All-SBC in 2014. The selections for Reis, May, and Graff were the first in their careers.
Schaedig won her second straight SBC Defensive Student-Athlete of the Year award, while Mallory Warrington was the Setter of the Year and Carlisa May was Freshman of the Year. Warrington's Setter of the Year award was the first in school history, while May's Freshman of the Year award was the first since 2008 (Cayla Fielder). David Rehr was named the league's Coach of the Year, the first since 2011 for A-State.
Warrington Shares the Wealth
A-State setter Mallory Warrington has been instrumental in the team's offensive success this season. She has dished out 1,188 assists (11.53 per set). She also has 2,898 assists in her career, which ranks as sixth most in school history. The 11.53 per set average ranks as 11th best in the country.
Warrington is the team's leader in double-doubles with 15 after picking up one against Little Rock Nov. 21 with 36 assists and 19 digs.
Digging With Schaedig
Schaedig leads the team with 531 digs for a 5.53 per set average that ranks 11th in the nation.
Schaedig has won five SBC Defensive Student-Athlete of the Week awards this year after earning the week 11 award in addition to her earlier awards in weeks one, three, eight, and 10. She has 10 Defensive Student-Athlete of the Week awards in her career now.
Additionally, Schaedig has the second-most assists on the team with 107 and also has nine service aces and six kills.
Darby is Dealing
Redshirt junior Darby Graff has had little trouble transitioning to the Red Wolves after transferring from Texas A&M in the offseason. She leads the team and Sun Belt Conference with a .355 hitting percentage. She's third on the team in kills with 309 (3.03 per set).
Graff had 25 kills and 11 blocks in the SBC Tournament with her first career double-double coming against App State in the finals with 11 kills and 10 blocks.
The Hallsville, Texas native is second on the team with 71 blocks, including 12 block solos.
Carlisa's Killing It
A-State true freshman Carlisa May leads the team in kills (356) and kills per set with a 3.60 average, which also ranks as third best in the conference and 115th in the country. She is hitting at a .308 clip, second best on the team and sixth highest in the Sun Belt Conference.
The Lee's Summit, Mo., native has won seven Freshman of the Week awards this year, which keeps extending her school record. Jessica Uke had the record after picking up three Freshman of the Week awards a season ago. She won six consecutive accolades from weeks 3-8. She also won the week three SBC Offensive Student-Athlete of the Week award.
Keeping Up With Drew Jones
A-State sophomore Drew Jones is second on the team in kills with 327 (3.17 per set) and has the team lead in service aces with 35 against only 16 service errors. The kills per set mark is ranked in a tie for fifth in the Sun Belt Conference and she has an aces per set mark of 0.34 that ranks as tied for third best in the league.
The Fort Smith, Ark., native is one of only two other players for the Red Wolves, aside from Mallory Warrington, to register a double-double this season with six of her own after tallying 14 kills and 10 digs in the SBC Tournament final versus App State.
A Side of Reis
Junior middle blocker Kelsey Reis, tied for the tallest player on the team with Anna Murphy at 6-3, is making her presence felt in the blocking game as she leads A-State with 122 total blocks on the year, including 35 block solos.
She is averaging 1.18 blocks per set on the year, which is tied for tops in the SBC and is also 75th highest in the nation. She had 12 blocks in the SBC Tournament.
The Smithton, Ill., native only has four block errors on the season and is fourth on the team with 185 kills.
Team Rankings
The Red Wolves rank in the top three in the conference in every major statistical category except for service aces, but were first in aces in SBC only matches with 1.42 per set.
A-State is first in opponent hitting percentage (.151). The team is second in hitting percentage (.269), assists (13.23 pet set), digs (16.50), and kills (14.07 per set), along with third in blocks (2.31 per set). The team is fifth in service aces per set with 1.23.
A-State ranks in the top-80 in the NCAA in all per set catergories except aces. The opponent hitting percentage ranks 9th and hitting percentage is 20th. The assists per set mark is 26th in the nation, while kills per set ranks 33rd. The digs per set and blocks per set marks are 46th and 79th, respectively.
A-State Sets Attendance Record at Senior Night
The attendance at the Convocation Center for the Nov. 12 match against Appalachian State was 2,517, which was the most all-time for a volleyball-only match in school history. The previous record was 1,104 against Memphis on Nov. 7, 1990.
The all-time attendance record for an A-State volleyball match is 4,140 on Nov. 25, 1995 against Memphis as part of a doubleheader with men's basketball.
Before the match, A-State honored seniors Hannah Robey and Kariana Castanon-Hill along with senior managers Danielle Daniels, Brennon Gurley, and Katherine James.
Robey is fourth on the team with 226 digs and third with 17 service aces, while Castanon-Hill has 101 kills and 54 blocks.
