MATCH 4: Arkansas State (2-1) at Saint Louis (1-3)

Friday, Sept. 2 • 7:00 p.m. CDT

Chaifetz Pavilion • St. Louis, Mo.

Series: A-State leads 10-8

Live Stats: AStateStats.com; Live Video: Atlantic10.com



MATCH 5: Arkansas State (2-1) vs. Cal Poly (2-1)

Saturday, Sept. 3 • 10:00 a.m. CDT

Chaifetz Pavilion • St. Louis, Mo.

Series: First Meeting

Live Stats: AStateStats.com; Live Video: None



MATCH 6: Arkansas State (2-1) vs. No. 19 Western Kentucky (4-0)

Saturday, Sept. 3 • 4:30 p.m. CDT

Chaifetz Pavilion • St. Louis, Mo.

Series: A-State trails 20-23

Live Stats: AStateStats.com; Live Video: None



QUICK HITS

This season marks the 42nd year of volleyball at Arkansas State and A-State has an all-time mark of 981-500-5 (.662) and had 979 wins to begin the season, ranking as 18th most in NCAA Division I history.

The Red Wolves started the season by winning two of three matches at the TCU Invitational. A-State swept Northwestern State and North Carolina State before losing to host TCU in five sets.

Markie Schaedig and Mallory Warrington were named the Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Week and Setter of the Week, respectively. Schaedig led the team with a 5.45 digs per set average, while Warrington dished out 11.55 assists per set.

Junior Drew Jones and sophomore Carlisa May were named to the TCU Invitational all-tournament team after registering 44 and 43 kills, respectively, in the three matches.

Prior to the beginning of the season, the Red Wolves were voted to win the West Division of the Sun Belt Conference by the league's coaches with 72 points and all 12 first-place votes. Newcomer Coastal Carolina was picked to win the East.

A-State vs. Saint Louis Series History

Arkansas State leads the all-time series with the Billikens by a count of 10-8 and defeated Saint Louis in last season's opening tournament, the Redhawks Invitational, by a score of 3-0 in Cape Girardeau, Mo.

The series with SLU began in A-State's first season of competition in volleyball in 1975. The team traveled to St. Louis, Mo., and lost a 2-1 contest to the Billikens. The two squads didn't play again until 1981 (2-0 A-State loss) and Arkansas State picked up its first win in the series in the third matchup during the 1983 season by a count of 3-2 in St. Louis.

The Red Wolves and Billikens played several times in the 1980's, including the 1988 season when A-State went 41-1 with its only loss coming to Saint Louis, a 3-2 decision in the Saint Louis Invitational.

Head Coach David Rehr is 1-0 against SLU with last season's 3-0 win representing the only matchup. Coach Rehr is 1-1 against teams from the Atlantic 10 conference with the loss coming to George Washington in the 2014 season opener. As a whole, A-State is 11-12 against current members of the A-10. Taking away the matches from Saint Louis, A-State is 1-4 with a 1-1 mark versus Dayton, 0-1 versus George Mason, and 0-2 versus George Washington.

In last season's match against Saint Louis, Drew Jones led the team with 13 kills, while Darby Graff and Carlisa May each had 11. Markie Schaedig registered 20 digs and Kelsey Reis had four blocks. Mallory Warrington handed out 38 assists.

A-State vs. Cal Poly Series History

Arkansas State and Cal Poly will play in volleyball for the first time in history Saturday.

Cal Poly competes in the Big West Conference and is 2-1 on the year after going 19-8 in 2015 with an 11-5 mark in conference play.

A-State has only played one other school currently in the Big West Conference in Long Beach State. The team is 0-2 against the 49ers with 3-1 losses in the 1992 NCAA Tournament in Long Beach (Arkansas State's first appearance in the NCAA Tournament) and during the 2012 season. The 2012 season was head coach David Rehr's first season and the loss occurred in the CEFCU Classic in Peoria, Ill.

Former A-State head coach Craig Cummings is an alumnus of Cal Poly and was an assistant coach and head coach of the Mustangs for a number of seasons, including one season as the men's team coach, before coming to Arkansas State.

A-State vs. Western Kentucky Series History

A-State is 20-23 against the Lady Toppers all-time, with the majority of the meetings coming as members of the Sun Belt Conference. The last two meetings were in 2013 when WKU claimed two 3-0 victories over the Red Wolves.

The two teams first met in the 1986 season when the Red Wolves claimed a 2-0 victory over the Lady Toppers. A-State won the first four meetings between the teams before WKU won a five-set decision in the 1991 SBC Tournament in Jonesboro, however Arkansas State bounced back to win twice over the Lady Toppers later in the event.

A-State won 15 of the first 16 matchups between the two teams, but lately it's been mostly Lady Toppers as WKU has won 22 of the last 27 matches. WKU enters this weekend's action with a 12-match win streak over the Red Wolves. A-State's last win in the series was a 3-1 victory in Jonesboro in the second match of the 2004 campaign.

Head coach David Rehr faced WKU four times and lost all four matches in sweeps. Three of the contests were in the regular season, while the team lost in the SBC Tournament semifinals to the Lady Toppers during his first season in 2012.

Schaedig, Warrington Win SBC Weekly Awards

Markie Schaedig won her 11th career SBC Defensive Player of the Week award for her performance during the first week of the season. The Little Rock, Ark., native had 60 digs (5.45 per set) across three matches during the TCU Invitational. She recorded 19 digs in each of the Red Wolves' 3-0 wins over Northwestern State and North Carolina State before adding 22 more in the team's final match of the tournament against TCU. Her 5.45 per set average is first in the league and 21st in the nation.

Mallory Warrington was honored with her sixth Setter of the Week award during her career and seventh total weekly award after her performance during the opening weekend of the 2016 campaign. The Lake St. Louis, Mo., native had a fantastic weekend leading the A-State offense to a 2-1 record at the TCU Invitational as the team hit .241 during the three matches. She dished out 127 assists (11.55 per set) and also picked up double-doubles with double-digit dig totals against Northwestern State and TCU. She handed out 37 assists against both Northwestern State and North Carolina State before recording 53 against TCU. Her 11.55 assists per set average ranks first in the league and 24th in the nation.

Jones, May Earn All-Tournament Accolades

Drew Jones and Carlisa May picked up All-Tournament honors for their performance in the TCU Invitational to open the year.

Jones led the team with 44 kills (4.00 per set) in the opening weekend on a .212 hitting percentage. She also had 20 digs, including 10 against TCU, along with a career-high tying 20 kills for her first double-double of the year. The Fort Smith, Ark., native had 11 and 13 kills in the first two matches, respectively.

Carlisa May was second on the team with 43 kills (3.91 per set) on a .277 attacking percentage. She had 18 kills against TCU with 14 and 11, respectively, against Northwestern State and North Carolina State. She also had four blocks defensively.

Both Jones and May each earned one all-tournament nod during the regular season, with Jones earning MVP honors at the Redhawks Invitational. Both players were also named All-SBC Tournament with May claiming the MVP accolade.

Red Wolves in the Polls

A-State received votes in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Preseason Poll with 23 points that would rank them 34th. However, A-State didn't receive any points in this week's version, while A-State's third opponent of the weekend, WKU, is ranked 19th.

Arkansas State was also ranked 50th in PrepVolleyball.com's Preseason Top 50 rankings and moved up to No. 44 in this week's Top 50 Poll after the 2-1 record at the TCU Invitational.

The Red Wolves broke into the AVCA Top 25 for the first time in school history a season ago. A-State spent two weeks on the Top 25 poll reaching as high as No. 24.

A-State Records Watch

A-State broke the school record for hitting percentage last season with a .267 mark. The previous record was .254 in 1990. Darby Graff led the team with a .355 mark, which ranked as ninth-highest in school history.

Mallory Warrington currently ranks sixth in school history with 3,051 assists and is three behind Jo Beth Mathis for fifth. She dished out 1,214 assists a season ago, which ranks as 10th best in school history.

Schaedig is fourth in A-State history with 1,604 digs after posting 537 digs a season ago and 60 in the opening weekend. She owns the school record for digs in a season, set in 2014, with 762. She is 65 digs away from tying Tessa Millikan for third place.

Red Wolves Earn Preseason SBC Honors

The Red Wolves were picked to finish first in the West Division of the Sun Belt Conference with 72 points and all 12 first-place votes. Texas State was chosen second, followed by UT Arlington, Little Rock, Louisiana-Lafayette, and ULM. Coastal Carolina was chosen to top the East Division.

A-State's Carlisa May, Markie Schaedig, and Mallory Warrington were selected to the Preseason All-SBC team, and all three won individual awards. May was the league's Co-Offensive Player of the Year with Coastal Carolina's Leah Hardeman. Schaedig was chosen as Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, while Warrington was voted as the Preseason Setter of the Year.

New Faces

A-State welcomes three newcomers to this season's team with Pulotu Manoa joining the team as a junior-college transfer from Missouri State-West Plains. Madison Turner and Diane Phillips are the two true freshmen to join the squad.

The Red Wolves lost three letterwinners from last season's squad with Hannah Robey and Kariana Castanon-Hill finishing their eligibility, while Darby Graff had to call it a career due to a medical issue.

Arkansas and Missouri are the two states represented the most by hometown with six apiece, while Texas is the only other state with multiple players with two. A-State also has single players from Kansas, Illinois, California, and Tennessee.

May We Have Another All-American

Carlisa May was named an AVCA Honorable Mention All-American at the conclusion of last season making her the second All-American in school history and second in as many seasons as Markie Schaedig earned Honorable Mention All-American status from the AVCA after the 2014 season.

May was also named to the AVCA All-Southwest Region team and was selected as the Region Freshman of the Year, which was the first time an A-State has earned the honor. The Lee's Summit, Mo., native led the team with 365 kills (3.58 per set) on a .300 hitting percentage.

Head coach David Rehr was named the Region Coach of the Year, which is the first time an A-State coach has claimed that honor, while Markie Schaedig and Mallory Warrington were named All-Southwest Region, while Darby Graff was an Honorable Mention selection.