TURLOCK, Calif.--- Stan State volleyball continues its early-season non-conference schedule this week with four matches at the three-day Fairfield by Marriott Inn & Suites Corinth-Denton Volleyfest in Denton, Texas. The Warriors open tournament play Friday, Sept. 4, against Westminster University before facing Southern Arkansas later that evening. Stan State concludes the weekend Saturday, Sept. 5, against Southern Nazarene and host Texas Woman's University. All four matches will be played at Kitty Magee Arena and can be seen live on FloCollege.

Flowers Moves into Tie for Third in Career Victories
Lauren Flowers enters this week's tournament with a 65-50 (.565) record in her fifth season at the helm of the Stan State volleyball program. The Warriors' sweep of Jessup gave Flowers her 65th career victory, tying Mallori Gibson-Rossi for third on Stan State's all-time coaching wins list. Flowers trails only Christina Lore (82) and Cindy Nikkel (78), while her .565 career winning percentage is the highest of any head coach in program history.

During Flowers' tenure, Warriors have earned 16 All-CCAA honors, including 2024 CCAA Libero of the Year Gabby Rawson and 2024 CCAA Freshman of the Year Malia Tanksley. Rawson also earned AVCA All-America honors in 2024 along with First Team D2CCA All-West Region and AVCA All-West Region honors. Ellison Weaver was named the 2024 CCAA Tournament MVP and became the program's first AVCA National Player of the Week.
Flowers has guided the Warriors to three CCAA Tournament appearances in four seasons, highlighted by the program's first CCAA Tournament championship and first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2024. Her tenure also includes a program-record-tying 19-win season in 2022 and a program-best 22 victories in 2024.

Weekend Recap
Stan State opened the 2026 season with a 2-1 record at the Sunbird Classic in Fresno, earning victories over Western Oregon and Jessup. The Warriors began the weekend with a 3-1 victory over Western Oregon, 25-12, 23-25, 25-17, 25-19. Lauren Hamilton recorded a career-high 11 kills without an attack error on 22 attempts for a .500 hitting percentage. Lauren Gonzales added nine kills and 11 digs, while Fallon Freeman and Emily Meyer each finished with eight kills. Stan State hit .236 while holding Western Oregon to .115.

The Warriors fell to Hawai'i Hilo in four sets on Friday, 25-9, 26-28, 25-17, 25-13. After dropping the opening set, Stan State responded by winning a second set that featured 12 ties and six lead changes. Sydney Hoffman tied her career high with eight kills while hitting .438, Meyer also finished with eight kills and Leah Mendoza led the Warriors with 16 digs.

Stan State bounced back Saturday with a 25-16, 25-16, 25-20 sweep of Jessup to finish the weekend 2-1. Soraya Forbes recorded a season-high 12 kills while hitting .400, while Gonzales finished with nine kills and a match-high 12 digs. The Warriors hit a weekend-best .319 while holding Jessup to a .022 hitting percentage and closed the match by hitting .394 in the third set.

Warriors in Review
Lauren Gonzales leads the Warriors with 24 kills and has added 31 digs, while Emily Meyer has 22 kills. Lauren Hamilton has 21 kills while hitting a team-best .465, and Sydney Hoffman has added 19 kills while hitting .269.
Reagan Wilkerson has recorded a team-high 59 assists, while Ireland Avalos has added 46. Leah Mendoza leads the Warriors with 35 digs; Gonzales has 31 and Wilkerson has 19. Hoffman has a team-high nine blocks, while
Hamilton has eight and Fallon Freeman has five.

As a team, Stan State is hitting .212 while holding its opponents to a .157 hitting percentage. The Warriors have 127 kills compared to 123 by their opponents and hold advantages in digs (147-140) and total blocks (21-17) through the first three matches.

Hamilton and Wilkerson Lead Warriors
Lauren Hamilton turned in an impressive all-around opening weekend, hitting .465 with 21 kills and eight blocks in 11 sets. Hamilton committed just one attack error in 43 attempts and hit at least .417 in all three matches. She opened the season with a career-high 11 kills and no errors while hitting .500 against Western Oregon, then hit .417 against Hawai'i Hilo and .444 in the sweep of Jessup. Defensively, Hamilton totaled three solo blocks and five block assists and finished the weekend with 26.5 points.

Reagan Wilkerson helped direct the Stan State offense with a team-high 59 assists while adding 19 digs in 11 sets. The Warrior setter recorded 17 assists and eight digs in the victory over Western Oregon and followed with 22 assists and eight digs against Hawai'i Hilo. She closed the weekend with 20 assists in just three sets against Jessup, averaging 6.67 assists per set in the sweep.

Scouting Westminster
Westminster enters Friday's match with a 0-4 record after opening the season at the Washburn Invitational. The Griffins fell in five sets to Arkansas Tech before losses to Oklahoma Christian, William Jewell and Washburn.
Westminster is hitting .139 through 16 sets while averaging 10.31 kills, 12.69 digs, 1.94 service aces and 1.63 blocks per set.

Claire Cook leads the Griffins with 48 kills and is averaging 3.00 kills per set, while Elsa Gilmore has 33 kills and is hitting .223. Kyra Mahler has recorded 16 kills while hitting a team-best .438 and leads Westminster with 12 blocks. Tiia Heikkinen has a team-high 95 assists and 32 digs, while Ava Livolsi leads the Griffins with 71 digs and nine service aces.

Stan State-Westminster Series
Stan State leads the all-time series against Westminster 1-0. The Warriors defeated the Griffins in straight sets, 25-23, 25-13, 25-22, on Sept. 2, 2016, in Alaska. Friday's match will mark the second meeting between the two programs.

Scouting Southern Arkansas
Southern Arkansas enters the Denton Volleyfest with a 1-3 record after opening the season with four home matches. The Muleriders defeated LeMoyne-Owen in straight sets while falling to Central Oklahoma, Texas A&M-Kingsville and UT Tyler. Southern Arkansas is averaging 13.21 kills, 12.29 assists, 17.71 digs and 1.64 blocks per set while hitting .181. The Muleriders will face UT Dallas at 9 a.m. CT on Friday before taking on Stan State later that evening.
Peighton Killeen leads Southern Arkansas with 38 kills and is averaging 2.71 kills per set, while Brinklee Dauenhauer has 35 kills and 52 digs. Courtnee Morgan has 26 kills while hitting .304 and leads the team with 15 blocks.  Hayden Pinard has recorded 75 assists, while Kate Schofield has added 59. Kendall Toliver leads the Muleriders with 66 digs.

Stan State-Southern Arkansas Series
Friday's match will mark the first meeting between Stan State and Southern Arkansas.

Scouting Southern Nazarene
Southern Nazarene enters the week with a 4-0 record after opening the season with victories over Texas A&M International, Drury, Newman and Minot State. The Crimson Storm dropped just one set during the opening weekend and is hitting .309 while averaging 15.15 kills, 14.00 assists, 18.15 digs and 2.92 service aces per set. Southern Nazarene will face Cameron on Tuesday, Sept. 1, in Lawton, Oklahoma, before facing Texas Woman's, UT Dallas and Westminster at the Denton Volleyfest prior to Saturday's match against Stan State.

Kate Wright leads the Crimson Storm with 59 kills, averaging 4.54 kills per set while hitting .331 and adding 45 digs. Rayanna Mauldin has 50 kills while hitting .280 and has added 29 digs. Emma Grace Moddelmog has directed the offense with 152 assists, averaging 11.69 per set, while adding a team-high nine service aces and 44 digs. Sydney Marquez leads Southern Nazarene with 62 digs, while Riley Richardson has a team-high nine blocks.

Stan State-Southern Nazarene Series
Stan State leads the all-time series against Southern Nazarene 1-0. The Warriors won the first meeting in four sets, 25-18, 20-25, 26-24, 27-25, on Sept. 1, 2012, in San Diego, California. Saturday's match will mark the second meeting between the two programs.

Scouting Texas Woman's
Texas Woman's enters the week with a 0-4 record after opening the season in Alaska. The Pioneers fell to Lenoir-Rhyne and Alaska Anchorage in four sets, Alaska Fairbanks in five sets and Chico State in three sets. Texas Woman's is averaging 11.81 kills, 11.13 assists, 19.44 digs and 2.56 blocks per set while hitting .136. The Pioneers will face Southern Nazarene, Central Oklahoma and Southern Arkansas at the Denton Volleyfest before closing the tournament against Stan State on Saturday.

Mary Grace King leads the Pioneers with 54 kills, averaging 3.38 kills per set, while Gracie Erichsen has 49 kills and is hitting .270. Lorena Gomez has recorded 128 assists and 51 digs, while Alyssa Rojo leads the defense with 86 digs, averaging 5.38 per set. Montserrat Soto-Talavera leads Texas Woman's with 21 blocks, while Trinity Blackwood has 14 and Charlise Smith has 10.

Stan State-Texas Woman's Series
Saturday's match will mark the first meeting between Stan State and Texas Woman's.

Watch Warrior Athletics on FloCollege
Warrior fans can follow Stan State on FloCollege throughout the season. All four of the Warriors' matches at the Fairfield by Marriott Inn & Suites Corinth-Denton Volleyfest will be streamed live on FloCollege. A FloCollege subscription provides access to more than 12,000 events throughout the season and can be streamed through the FloSports app on Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast and mobile devices.

Beginning with Stan State's home opener against San Francisco State on Thursday, Sept. 24, at 5 p.m., fans can also listen to Levi Flores call the action for Warrior volleyball. Flores' play-by-play will be available on both FloCollege and BlueChip Broadcasting throughout the home schedule.

Up Next
Following the Denton Volleyfest, Stan State begins CCAA play with three consecutive road matches. The Warriors open conference play Thursday, Sept. 10, at Cal Poly Humboldt at 5 p.m. before traveling to Cal State Dominguez Hills on Saturday, Sept. 12, at 1 p.m. Stan State concludes the road swing Saturday, Sept. 19, at Chico State at 5 p.m.

The Warriors return to Turlock to host a three-team non-conference pod at Ed & Bertha Fitzpatrick Arena, Sept. 24-26. Stan State hosts San Francisco State in its home opener Thursday, Sept. 24, at 5 p.m. Cal State East Bay faces San Francisco State on Friday, Sept. 25, at 5 p.m., before the Warriors close the weekend against Cal State East Bay on Saturday, Sept. 26, at 3 p.m.