FIRST TIME EVER: TexAnns begin season in top 25

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Tarleton volleyball head coach Mary Shindler and her son, Ethan.|| Photo by RUSSELL HUFFMAN/The Flash Today

Special to the Flash
TarletonSports.com

STEPHENVILLE (August 14, 2017) – For the first time in school history, Tarleton will open a season as one of the top-ranked teams in the country after the TexAnns were ranked No. 25 in the nation by the American Volleyball Coaches Association preseason poll Monday afternoon.

“We’re very grateful to all of the coaches who think so highly of our program,” said head coach Mary Schindler. “Looking back on my time as head coach, this is a wonderful step in the development of our program but it’s certainly not the end step. We’ve proven to ourselves that we have what it takes to be one of the top teams in the nation, but now we have to prove to ourselves that that we deserve to stay there year in and year out.

“I’m excited about the team we have this year,” she continued. “I’m excited to see what this team can be at the end of the year if they continue to put in the work.”

Tarleton is coming off its second consecutive season with an overall record of 27-7 and its third straight trip to the NCAA regional tournament. The TexAnns advanced to the second round of the NCAA playoffs a year ago with a win over Regis (CO) in the first round.


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Hailey Roberts returns to Tarleton for her senior season after shattering the Tarleton record books in her first three years. The three-time All-American from Cedar Park enters her final year as the school’s all-time leader in kills with 1,845 and was named the D2CCA Ron Lenz National Player of the Year in 2016. Also returning for the TexAnns is AVCA Honorable Mention All-American Setter Jordyn Keamo and all-conference libero Adrianna Knutson, as well as senior Chandler Gow, junior Hannah McManus, and sophomore Michaela Rodriguez from last year’s starting rotation.

The TexAnns made school history with their first-ever national rankings in the final poll of 2016, checking in at No. 25 in the AVCA’s final release of the year. Tarleton will open the season on September 1, 2017 at home against Maryville at 12:30 p.m. in the TexAnn Invitational.

For more about the AVCA or to see the complete rankings, visit AVCA.org.


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