Southland Conference Weekly Update
9/25/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 25, 2000
Southland Weekly Volleyball - Sept. 25, 2000
Southland Standings Tighten with Southwest Texas and McNeese State Undefeated Southwest Texas added two Conference wins while McNeese won its only Conference match of the week to both stay undefeated in the Southland standings. That will change this week as SWT and McN meet in Lake Charles, La., Friday night in a battle of the unbeatens.
Southwest Texas had an easy time with its opponents, sweeping all three contests at home. The Bobcats cleared their bench against Texas Southern in a non-conference victory. Led by Tiffany Weidner and Shauna Stahl, the 'Cats then defeated Northwestern State and Louisiana-Monroe to extend their winning streak to six and their home winning streak to four. SWT has been breaking attendance records all season and the crowd of 1,121 versus ULM was the fifth largest in Straham Coliseum history.
Anissa Parker became McNeese State's career digs leader in the first game against Sam Houston State. Allison Brent moved into fifth place on McN's all-time blocks list with 12 total blocks last week. McNeese went 1-1 with a loss at Louisiana-Lafayette and a Conference win against SHSU.
Lamar went 2-0 with victories over SHSU and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to improve to 3-1 in the Southland, tied with Texas-Arlington. LU leads the league in team blocks with an average of 2.72 per game.
UTA posted a 2-0 mark and was led by Tracee Cole and this week's defensive player of the week, Trisha Walker. With 23 digs against Southeastern Louisiana, Walker was just one dig shy of her season best. UTA faces Southern Methodist tomorrow night before getting back to the SLC schedule against SHSU on Saturday.
Last year's regular season champion, Texas-San Antonio, and the tournament champion, Stephen F. Austin, are tied at 3-2 in the Southland. UTSA picked up two league wins behind the attack of freshman Charlsie Heifrin, this week's offensive player of the week. Heifrin had 27 kills in six games and has posted double-digit kills in all but one match all season. The Roadrunners look to climb up the standings with key matches at Lamar and McNeese State this weekend.
SFA had a busy week with two Southland matches and two matches against tough non-conference foes. SFA lost to TCU last Tuesday, then rebounded for two Southland victories over SLU and Nicholls State. Then in a Sunday afternoon match in Baton Rouge, the Ladyjacks lost to LSU. Marissa Dorcheus leads the league in assists and she added to her stats with 15.62 assists per game. Kristy Rhodes, who leads the Southland in hitting percentage and kills per game, recorded a .335 hit% and 5.77 kpg. SFA has only one match on the slate this week, a Friday contest at SHSU.
Northwestern State won its second Conference match with a 3-1 win over Louisiana-Monroe. The Demons then dropped both road contests to fall to 2-4. They are home for their next three matches.
Southeastern Louisiana ended its four-match homestand with losses to SFA and UTA but was able to start off the week with a victory over Nicholls State. The Lady Lions hit the road for four in a row starting with Sam Houston State tomorrow night.
Nicholls got swept last week in Conference and heads to New Orleans for a non-conference match with Tulane Tuesday. The Colonels are also on the road for four straight before an Oct. 6 date at home.
Sam Houston State and Louisiana-Monroe still search for their first Southland wins. If someone doesn't get a conference victory before Oct. 13, then the two cellar dwellers will square off in Huntsville.
Offensive Player of the Week Charlsie Heifrin * freshman * middle blocker * Texas-San Antonio Charlsie Heifrin, a 6-1 middle blocker from Red Oak, Texas, registered a .449 hitting percentage and 4.50 kills per game to lead Texas-San Antonio to two Conference wins last week. Heifrin has posted impressive numbers all season, in fact, she has had double-digit kills in all but one match. Heifrin is the league's leading freshman on offense with a .328 hitting percentage and 4.12 kpg (fourth overall).
Also nominated: Marissa Dorcheus, SFA, Shauna Stahl, SWT, Tracee Cole, UTA.
Previous winners: Brigette Birdwell, LU, Kristy Rhodes, SFA, Anissa Parker, McN.
Defensive Player of the Week Trisha Walker * senior * outside hitter * Texas-Arlington Trisha Walker, a 5-10 outside hitter from Dubuque, Iowa, added to her league-leading digs per game average with 28 digs in two matches last week, helping Texas-Arlington to two Conference wins. Walker recorded 4.67 digs per game along with three block solos and three block assists. She leads the Southland with 4.12 dpg.
Also nominated: Anissa Parker, McN, Kristy Rhodes, SFA, Tiffany Weidner, SWT.
Previous winners: Natalie Sarver, LU, Jennifer Dallao, SWT, Shauna Stahl, SWT. -SLC-
