LAKE CHARLES—McNeese volleyball (8-12, 4-5, SLC) will end its Texas swing with an 11 a.m. match Saturday at Houston Christian.  The match will stream live on ESPN+.
 
The Cowgirls are coming off a five set (3-2) road loss at Incarnate Word on Thursday that snapped the Cowgirls three match winning streak. The Cowgirls enter the match tied for sixth place in the SLC standings.
 
Houston Christian (4-17, 2-7 SLC) are coming off its second conference win of the season after defeating Nicholls 3-1 at home Thursday.
 
MATCH INFO
• Opponent: Houston Christian
• Date: Saturday, Oct. 24
• First Serve: 11 a.m.
• Location: Houston, Texas
• Venue: Sharp Gym
 
SERIES RECORD
• HCU leads the series 14-8 and have won the last three matches against McNeese.
• The last McNeese win against HCU was a 3-0 win in Lake Charles in 2023
• The last McNeese win at HCU was a 3-1 win in 2021
 
Complete McNeese Schedule
 
TUNE IN
ESPN+
 
McNEESE NOTES
• McNeese will end its Texas swing Saturday in an 11 a.m. at Houston Christian.
• McNeese snapped its three-match winning streak with a 3-1 road loss at Incarnate Word on Thursday.
• It's the only regular season match between the two teams this season.
• McNeese enters the match tied for seventh place in the SLC standings along with Lamar and Northwestern State.
• Started the SLC schedule against the top five SLC preseason picks as voted by the coaches.  UTRGV (#2), Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (#3), SFA (#1), Lamar (#5), and Southeastern (#4).
• McNeese was picked to finish 9th in the SLC preseason poll.
 
• As a team, McNeese leads the SLC and ranks 13th in the nation in digs per set (16.64).  The Cowgirls also rank third in the SLC with 11.84 assists per set.
• Freshman libero Sophia Tocmo ranks 5th in the nation with 5.14 digs per set and 20th in total digs with 360 digs heading into Saturday's match.
• Against ETAM on Oct. 15, Tocmo became the first McNeese freshman libero to reach 300 digs in the rally era when she ended the match with 31 digs.
• Tocmo has recorded double figure digs in the last 19 matches and recorded her first career double double with a career high 33 digs and 13 assists against Oral Roberts on Sept. 19.
• Senior setter Megan Grose has dished out double figure assists in all 20 matches including a season high 24 twice this season.  Grose leads the team with 352 assists and 18 aces.
• Grose recorded her fourth double double at UIW with 19 assists and 13 digs.
• Junior setter Corynne Hausler recorded her third double double of the season (23 ast., 10 digs) against ORU on Sept. 19.  She has dished out at least 10 assists in 15 matches including 14 of the last 15 matches. She is second on the team with 321 assists.
• Gabbie Maldonado leads the team with 207 kills for an average of 2.96 per set.
• Ava Henry leads the team with 51 blocks and is second on the team with 188 kills.
• Kayla Wilson has recorded double figure kills in 10 of the last 14 matches.  Wilson recorded a career high five blocks at LSU New Orleans on Oct. 10.
• McNeese is one of two D1 volleyball programs whose entire staff is in their first year of collegiate coaching.  Indiana State University's staff is the other school.
• The Cowgirls will play 11 home matches this season including two matches in its own Cowgirl Classic.  Of the 11 home matches, eight are conference matches.
• McNeese returns nine players (Corynne Hausler, Carli Banks, Maleah Mutterback, Sophie Twigg, Bailey Foolkes, Mary-Alice Dohmann, Neal Grace Berry, Kayla Wilson, Ava Henry) from last season and one from its 2024 team (Megan Grose).
• The 2026 team also consists of three transfers (Gabbie Maldonado, Harmony Soles, Harmony Jackson) and four freshmen (Sophia Tocmo, Danyele Wallace, Gaby Santiago, Aaniyah Kitchen) 
• Sophomores Ava Henry and Bailey Foolkes are second generation Cowgirls. Ava's mother (Eunice) played basketball and her father (Adam), who serves as the Pittsburgh Steelers wide receivers coach, played football at McNeese.  Foolkes' mother (Shannon) played volleyball while her father (Trevor) ran cross country for McNeese.  Adam and Shannon are both McNeese Hall of Famers.
• First year head coach Tayler Gray made her collegiate debut as a D1 head coach against Miami (OH) on Aug. 28 at the Bearkat Invitational. Gray picked up her first career win, a straight set win at Grambling on Sept. 11. 
• When the Cowgirls and Sam Houston met on Aug. 29 at the Bearkat Invitational, it was a mother-daughter D1 head coaches matchup.  Tayler's mother Brenda is the Bearkats' head coach.  They are the only mother-daughter D1 head coaches this season and possibly the first in NCAA history.
 
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
HOUSTON CHRISTIAN
•Enter the match 4-17 overall and 2-7 in the SLC
• Coming off a 3-1 home win over Nicholls on Thursday
 
 
UPCOMING COWGIRL MATCHES
Oct. 24 at Houston Christian* (11 a.m.)
Oct. 29 Southeastern* (6 p.m.)
Oct. 31 LSU New Orleans* (10 a.m.)
Nov. 5 at Stephen F. Austin (6 p.m.)
Nov. 7 at Lamar (11 a.m.)
Nov. 12 Nicholls (6 p.m.)
Nov. 14 at Nicholls (1 p.m.)
Nov. 20-22 SLC Tournament (Corpus Christi, Texas)
 
*- Southland Conference Match