TEXAS WOMAN'S (0-0) vs. NEWMAN (0-0)
Friday, Sept. 2 at 1:30 p.m.
Kitty Magee Arena (Denton, Texas)
All-time series: NU leads 1-0
 
TEXAS WOMAN'S (0-0) vs. CSU-PUEBLO (0-0)
Friday, Sept. 2 at 6:30 p.m.
Kitty Magee Arena (Denton, Texas)
All-time series: TWU leads 2-0
 
Pioneers start 2016 season in Hilton Garden Inn Classic
Texas Woman's volleyball begins the season by playing host to Newman, CSU-Pueblo, Harding, Texas A&M-Commerce and Lubbock Christian at the second annual Hilton Garden Inn Classic in Kitty Magee Arena Friday and Saturday. The Pioneers are returning from a successful 2015 campaign where the squad received an at-large bid to the 2015 NCAA South Central Regional Tournament and finished the season with an overall record of 24-8, including a 12-4 mark in Lone Star Conference play.
 
Last meeting between Pioneers and Jets
JOPLIN, Mo. (Oct. 2, 2010) – The Texas Woman's University volleyball team went 0-2 on day two of the Missouri Southern Crossover on Saturday. TWU opened the day with a straight-set loss to the host Missouri Southern, 25-19, 25-18, and 25-15, before falling to Newman in four, 25-22, 25-20, 18-20, and 25-21.
 
Against Newman all four set were close. With the score tied at 18-18 in set one, the Jets went on a 6-1 run to take a 24-19 lead. The Pioneers erased four set points before they fell by three points.  In set two, both teams traded points early and with the score tied at 13-13, Newman scored five straight to take an 18-13 lead. The Pioneers cut it two points but it wasn't enough as they fell by five.
 
TWU bounced back and controlled the third set. The Pioneers led from start to finish and posted a .333 hitting percentage to capture a seven-point victory. In the fourth, TWU held a 15-12 lead before the Jets went on a 5-0 run. With the score knotted at 18-18, Newman scored three straight to take a 21-18 lead and held on to a five-point victory.
 
Three Pioneers reached double digits in kills led by sophomore Andrea Rivera-Rojas with 12. Seniors Alyson Harlan and Launa McClung each added 11 kills.
 
Last meeting between Pioneers and ThunderWolves
PUEBLO, Colo. (Sept. 11, 2015) - The TWU volleyball team cruised to two wins on the first of the Steel & Silver Classic with a pair of three-set victories.  The Pioneers defeated Western State, 25-17, 25-21, and 25-18, before knocking off the host Colorado State-Pueblo, 25-18, 25-20, and 25-18.
 
In the second game against CSU-Pueblo, Mayfield again led the team on offense with a game-high 16 kills.  She also posted a .333 hitting percentage along with junior Sara Oxford who finished with eight kills.  Talkington also led the team with 15 digs and Kuechle added 14 digs.  Mayfield recorded 12 digs for the double-double.  Redwine finished with a game-high 28 assists. The Pioneers dominated at the net with seven team blocks and held the ThunderWolves to just .065 hitting percentage.
 
Volleyball Picked Third, Oxford Named Preseason Defensive Player of the Year
DENTON, Texas (Aug. 16, 2016) - Coming off a 24-win season and a third-place finish in the Lone Star Conference (LSC), Texas Woman's has been tapped to remain in the third spot for the upcoming 2016 campaign.  Senior middle blocker Sara Oxford has been chosen LSC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year.  The voting was conducted among the league's head coaches, sports information directors and various media representatives from throughout the region.
 
TWU earned 239 votes, finishing behind Angelo State, the defending LSC tournament champion and South Central Region runner-up, and Tarleton State, the regular-season LSC champion.
TWU qualified for its 13th consecutive conference tournament appearance last year where they swept past Texas A&M-Commerce in the first round before falling to eventual champion Angelo State in a tight four-set battle.  TWU earned an at-large bid to the NCAA South Central Regional Tournament for the second time in three years.  As the fifth seed, the Pioneers took on fourth-seeded Colorado School of Mines, falling in three sets.
 
Last season in her first year in maroon and white, Oxford was named both LSC Newcomer and Defensive Player of the Year as well as All-Conference First Team and All-Region First Team.  The Decatur native led the Pioneers in total blocks (118) while finishing second on the team in points (362.5) and total kills (283).  Her defensive efforts at the net placed her fifth in school history for block assists (111) in a season, while her average of 1.06 blocks per set placed her third in the conference.
 
TWU Volleyball Earns Ninth Straight AVCA Award for Academic Excellence
DENTON, Texas (July 29, 2016) - For the ninth consecutive year the TWU Volleyball team earned American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award honors for posting a team grade point average of 3.570 during the 2015-16 academic year.
 
During this past year, the Pioneers posted the top volleyball team GPA in the Lone Star Conference, highlighted by senior All-America middle blocker Hillary Shaffer being named an LSC Scholar-Athlete of the Year.  Shaffer, along with fellow departing senior Torie Talkington, junior Mallory Kuechle, and sophomores Baylie Barnes and Briley Cole, all earned perfect 4.0 GPA's.  Overall, 13 of the 15 volleyball student-athletes recorded a GPA of 3.30 or better.   
 
The AVCA Team Academic Award, which was initiated in 1992-93, honors collegiate and high school volleyball teams that display excellence in the classroom during the school year by maintaining at least a 3.30 cumulative team grade point average on a 4.0 scale or a 4.10 cumulative team GPA on a 5.0 scale.  During the 2015-16 academic year a record 113 NCAA Division II teams were honored.  TWU led a group of four LSC schools that included Angelo State, Eastern New Mexico and Texas A&M-Commerce.
 
Fifteen Home Games, Trip to The Sunshine State Highlight Volleyball Schedule
DENTON, Texas  (June 10, 2016) - A trip to Florida, a six-team home tournament to start the season and 15 home games highlight the 2016 TWU volleyball schedule.  The Pioneers will play a total of 29 regular season games including 15 home games, 11 away games and three contests on a neutral site.
 
TWU will open the season at home with its annual Hilton Garden Inn Classic on Sept. 2-3.  The Pioneers will face Newman and Colorado State-Pueblo on the opening day on Friday, Sept. 2 before playing Harding and Lubbock Christian on Saturday, Sept. 3.
 
The following week TWU will travel to Lakeland, FL, to play in the Florida Southern/Terrace Hotel Classic on Sept. 9-10.  The Pioneers will take on LIU Post, Florida Southern, UC-Colorado Springs and Rollins.
 
TWU will play 20 of the remaining 21 regular season games against Lone Star Conference opponents.  The lone non-conference game will be against Dallas Baptist on Tuesday, Sept. 27 at home.  The home-and-home LSC schedule against the 10 conference teams will be played between Sept. 16-Nov. 12.  This year's LSC schedule will also include two newcomers to the league, UT Permian Basin and Western New Mexico.
 
The top eight teams in the final conference standings will earn a berth in the 2016 LSC Championship Tournament.  The top-seed will host the tournament on Nov. 17-19.