Stephen F. Austin
Texas State
Bobcats Upset Ladyjacks In SLC Tournament Final
11/18/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 18, 2007
SAN ANTONIO, Texas - When SFA meets Texas State on the volleyball court, things are always a battle and on Sunday things were no different; however, SFA was on the wrong end of a five-game match as the Ladyjacks saw their season come to an end on, falling to an upstart Texas State team 3-2 (14-30, 30-25, 30-26, 18-30, 15-11) in the championship match of the Southland Conference Tournament in San Antonio.
Texas State (21-11), the No. 5 seed, upset McNeese State, No. 1 Lamar and SFA (27-8) on its way to its third tournament title in four seasons. The Ladyjacks finish the season at 27-8 earned its fourth consecutive Southland Conference title in 2007.
"Texas State is a very talented team, as talented as any team in the league," head coach Debbie Humphreys said. "Their seed never means anything, and they always get up for tournament time."
The loss is the first for SFA against Texas State in seven matches, including a pair of Ladyjack wins earlier in the season. SFA last defeated Bobcats via sweep at Johnson Coliseum in the regular season finale.
Even in the loss, the Ladyjacks still saw the passing of a torch as JJ Jones picked up 46 assists in the win and surpassed Bianca Aranda for sole possession of the assists record at SFA with 5,191 for her career. The senior, along with classmates Traci Rohde and Jami Hill, closed out their careers with a career record of 112-21 in their four years as Ladyjacks.
"These seniors have set a new standard for this program," Humphreys said, "and it is our job now to keep that standard alive."
SFA picked up right where it left off after Saturday night, controlling game one from start to finish. The Ladyjacks would follow Traci Rohde's serve to five straight points to open things up 7-2 in the early going. Shelly Swendig would have the early touch as well, forcing a Bobcat timeout with two of her five kills on the game coming on back-to-back points to push the lead to 14-7. The lead would continue to swell and JJ Jones would find Kelsey Owens on the left side for the game's final kill at 30-14. SFA's defense was on point in the game, holding Texas State to a -.049 hitting percentage in the frame.
Game two would be a reversal of fortunes as after only committing .250 in game one, SFA could only muster a .068 mark in the second frame. Texas State would never trail in game two, as three straight errors for SFA to start the game set the tone; however, after being down as much as six, the Ladyjacks would draw to within a point at 20-19 on a kill from Rohde. But three more attack errors and a setting error aided Texas State in their final 10 points as the Bobcats took the game 30-25.
The third frame would epitomize what the rivalry for SFA and Texas State has became as there were 11 ties and neither team leading by more than three points until the game's final point. The Ladyjacks would get three kills apiece from Swendig and Kelsey Owens, but once again struggled overall with a .060 hitting percentage for the game. Conversely, the Bobcats continued their hot swinging with a .229 mark, including four blocks. SFA started off well, holding the lead until an attack error gave the lead to the Bobcats at 18-17. The game would remain in striking distance for the Ladyjacks until a quick three-point spurt put Texas State at a game-point opportunity, eventually winning the game 30-26 on a soft kill from Amy Weigle.
With their backs against the wall, SFA would find its form in game four as Whitney Schott would make her first appearance of the match and served six straight Ladyjack points for a 7-1 lead that SFA would never relinquish in the game. With the lead at nine, back-to-back kills from Bailey and Railey would push the lead to 11 before Rohde would hammer home consecutive kills for the game's final two points, taking the game 30-18.
"We called the timeout toward the end of the fourth game to make sure we kept up the intensity," Humphreys said. "We did that but just couldn't keep the momentum through game five."
The final game would see Texas State only commit a single error in the race to 15 with the Bobcats going on a 6-1 run to close things out. Things looked promising for SFA as the Ladyjacks followed Schott's serve to post a quick 5-3 lead, but six Ladyjack errors would aide the Bobcat rally. Rohde finished the final game with a game-high four kills, but it was not enough as Melinda Cave dinked home the game's final kill for a 15-11 win.
For SFA, JJ Jones finished just shy of a triple-double with 46 assists, 15 digs, eight kills and four blocks in her record-setting day. SLC Libero of the Year Jami Hill picked up over 30 digs for the fourth time this season with 32, and Rohde finished with 15 kills and six blocks in her final match.
Junior Shelly Swendig finished with a season-high 17 kills on a season-high 51 attacks and freshman Kelsey Owens was the third Ladyjack in double figures with 10 kills.
Senior Traci Rohde and junior Lauren Railey each were named to the all-tournament team for their efforts, as Texas State landed three on the squad including Tournament MVP A.J. Watlington.
-SFA-
