Southland Conference Weekly Update
10/30/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 30, 2000
Southland Weekly Volleyball - Oct. 30, 2000
There's No Place Like Home With Two Weeks Remaining The home teams definitely took advantage of their home courts this past week as each hosting school won in Southland Conference play with two weeks remaining in the regular season schedule. Only Nicholls State, playing in a non-conference match against Southern Mississippi, dropped a home contest last week.
The standings shifted a little with teams jockeying for places in the top six for better seedings for the Southland Conference Championship. While Southwest Texas (16-0) remains in first, the next five spots changed. Texas-San Antonio (13-3) displaced Texas-Arlington (11-4) at No. 2, and Lamar (10-5) moved up to No. 4, switching places with Stephen F. Austin (9-6). The Ladyjacks are now tied for fifth with McNeese State (9-6).
SWT and UTSA have qualified for the Southland Championship while Nicholls State, Sam Houston State and Louisiana-Monroe have been mathematically eliminated.
SWT earned wins over Lamar, UTA and SFA to run its winning streak to 19 matches, tying the school record set in 1986. The Bobcats have a 22-match winning streak against Southland opponents in regular season action and are one win away from clinching at least a tie for the Conference regular season title. Natalie Spann set the pace for SWT last week as she recorded 15.7 assists per game. Spann spread the wealth amongst the Bobcat attackers with 11 registering double-digit kills in the three matches. Shenequa Bedford averaged five kills per game, hitting .394 against UTA and .435 against LU. Tiffany Weidner dug 4.5 attempts per game, including 22 against SFA in a win that went four games.
UTSA moved into second with three Conference wins that included a sweep of UTA, which goes to third place. The Roadrunners' Tamara Luckemeyer served up a career-high four aces versus SFA and then tallied double-digits in both kills and digs in all three contests. She averaged 5.10 kpg with a .346 hit%. On defense, the league's digs leader, Stacy Schmidt, had an average of 4.70 dpg. Schmidt, who is also ranked seventh in the country in digs, recorded double digits in kills and digs as well. Charlsie Heifrin continued to put up phenomenal clocking numbers with 14 block assists and two solo blocks in three matches. She rounded out the UTSA offense with double-digits in kills.
UTA's two losses place them third with five Conference contests remaining. Amber Pack averaged 5.17 dpg and added one block solo and four block assists. Trisha Walker hit home 5.8 kills per game, but it was her 29 digs that put her fifth on the Mavericks' all-time digs list with 1,381 in her career.
After dropping the contest at SWT earlier in the week, Lamar swept Louisiana-Monroe and Northwestern State. Now in fourth place, the Lady Cardinals, who will host the Conference Championship in two weeks, surpassed last year's win total of 17. LU is currently 19-7 overall. Head coach Jim Barnes is three victories away from his 100th career win.
SFA misfired this past week, dropping both contests, 3-1. Against SWT and UTSA, the Ladyjacks came back in game two to even the score at one apiece, but could not rally. Game three against the Bobcats went 15-13, while game three against the Roadrunners went 16-14. Kristy Rhodes remains in the top ten in the NCAA stats in kills at No. 9 with 5.57 kpg. Marissa Dorcheaus in No. 4 in assists with an average of 14.73 per game.
SFA is now tied for fifth with McNeese State, which picked up a pair of wins over NWLa. and ULM. Anissa Parker, who is tenth in the country with 5.50 kpg, recorded a .314 hit% with 5.3 kpg. Angela Eppers tied her career high for digs, collecting 20 against the Northwestern State. Head coach Lee McBride is just one win shy of his 200th career victory. He has a career record of 199-137.
Southeastern Louisiana and Northwestern State are the only two teams that still have the opportunity to move into the top six in the Southland. SLU blanked Grambling in a non-conference contest, then shut out Sam Houston State as well. The Lady Lions will play at Southern on Nov. 1 before heading home to finish their home schedule against the league's two top teams - SWT and UTSA.
Northwestern's final four matches are all at home, three of which are Conference contests. The Demons are looking to end a two-match losing streak by hosting SHSU, Centenary, SFA and UTA.
Southland Conference Offensive Player of the Week Natalie Spann * junior * setter * Southwest Texas Natalie Spann of Cleburne, Texas, dished out 15.7 assists per game against three of the top five teams in the Southland, helping Southwest Texas maintain its dominance with three more Conference wins. Spann distributed her sets so that 11 attackers registered double-digit kills, including five players with 12 or more kills against Stephen F. Austin. Spann tallied a .407 hitting percentage herself.
Also nominated: Anissa Parker, McN, Trisha Walker, UTA, Tamara Luckemeyer, UTSA.
Previous winners: Brigette Birdwell, LU, Kristy Rhodes, SFA, Anissa Parker, McN, Charlsie Heifrin, UTSA (twice), Laura Ivy, SWT, Urissa White, LU, Shenequa Bedford, SWT.
Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Week Stacy Schmidt * junior * outside hitter * Texas-San Antonio Stacy Schmidt of Katy, Texas, recorded double-digit digs and kills in all three Southland victories, helping Texas-San Antonio move into second place in the Conference. Schmidt leads the league in digs and is ranked seventh in the nation with 4.57 digs per game. Last weekend, she bested that average with 4.70 dpg and added three block assists.
Also nominated: Angela Eppers, McN, Tiffany Weidner, SWT, Amber Pack, UTA.
Previous winners: Natalie Sarver, LU, Jennifer Dallao, SWT, Shauna Stahl, SWT, Trisha Walker, UTA, Jennifer Dallao, SWT, Shanda Hart, LU, Alison Tuttle, LU, Shanda Hart, LU. -SLC-
