Ladyjacks Open Run At Tourney Title On Friday
11/19/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 19, 2008
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - A Southland Conference regular season title is out of the question this season, but the Ladyjack volleyball team has another Southland Conference Tournament crown and a berth it's second NCAA Tournament in three seasons in its sights beginning with Friday's first-round match with Sam Houston State.
The entire Southland Conference Tournament can be followed via Livestats at www.southland.org, and can also be viewed via internet streaming on SLCNOW also at www.southland.org.
The championship match of the SLC Tournament will be televised on the SLC TV Network, which is Channel 8 on local Nacogdoches cable. Doug Anderson, who also calls each SLC football game of the week on SLC TV, will be calling the championship play-by-play. Former Ladyjack all-conference player and current Southland Conference Associate Commissioner for External Affairs Jenny Orndorff will be on the microphone providing color commentary.
The Ladyjacks enter as the No. 4 overall seed and will take on the Bearkats at 6:30 p.m. on Friday in the first round, with the winner advancing to the semifinals to take on the winner of No. 1 Texas State and No. 8 Northwestern State. SFA is 24-17 all-time in the SLC Tournament.
"We have to be willing to be the aggressor and not sit back and let other teams dictate how the match is going to go," head coach Debbie Humphreys said. "If we do that we should be in really good shape and it should be a fun weekend."
SFA comes into the tournament having won only five of its last 10 matches, but directly on the heels of consecutive sweeps on the road at Southeastern Louisiana and Nicholls last weekend.
"You start in August and this is what you prepare for," Humphreys said. "It's time to put it together and go out and enjoy the experience. I think we turned a corner last weekend and we are having fun and playing well again."
The Ladyjacks also have the advantage of playing this year's tournament on its home court - William R. Johnson Coliseum - for the first time since 2002; however, SFA will also have to overcome the recent curse that has been cast over the last 14 SLC Tournament hosts as no host team has claimed the tournament title since SFA won the 1994 SLC Tournament at Shelton Gym.
Johnson Coliseum is a place where the Ladyjacks have been very comfortable since relocating in 1999, posting a 93-19 record including a 32-4 record at home since 2005.
SFA picked up a four-set win over the Bearkats in the teams' only meeting this season on Oct. 22 in Nacogdoches. Ashley Bailey paced five Ladyjacks in double-figure kills in that match with a career-best 18 kills, while setter Whitney Schott dished out 62 assists which still stands as the top four-set assist mark in the SLC this season.
SFA/SLC Tournament Notes:
• The Ladyjacks have 20 wins on the year, but hold the No. 4 seed in the tournament, making them the first 20-win team with the No. 4 seed since McNeese State in 2002.
• This is the third time SFA has been a No. 4 seed in the SLC Tournament, and the first time since 2000. That season the Ladyjacks fell in the first round to Lamar in four sets. SFA's other stint as a No. 4 seed was in 1990 when the Ladyjacks defeated No. 5 UL-Monroe before falling to No. 1 UTA in the semifinals.
• No. 4 seeds are an even 5-5 in first-round matches of the SLC Tournament in the last five seasons; however, the No. 5 seed has pulled the upset each of the last two seasons.
• SFA is 2-2 all-time in the SLC Tournament against first-round opponent Sam Houston; however, this is the first time they have met in the tournament since 1996 when the No. 2 Bearkats got the better of No. 1 SFA, 3-1, in the championship match for what is still Sam Houston's only SLC Tournament title.
• The lowest seed to be deemed a tournament champion occurred last year when Texas State rode its No. 5 seed to the tournament title, defeating No. 4 McNeese State, then No. 1 Lamar in the semifinals and No. 2 SFA in the championship match.
• The last SLC Tournament host to win the tournament on its own court was in 1994 when No. 2 SFA defeated No. 1 Sam Houston at Shelton Gym for the tournament title. Sam Houston won it in Huntsville the previous season, marking the only two times a host has ever won the tournament on its home court.
More Ladyjack Notes:
• The Southland Conference announced its annual all-conference teams on Tuesday with four Ladyjacks receiving honors. Lauren Railey and MC Bottles were each named to the first team, while Ashley Bailey and Laurel Kuepker earned honorable mention honors. Railey's first-team selection is her second in as many years, while Bottles was one of three freshman on this season's top squad. She is the first Ladyjack ever to be named to the all-conference first team as a freshman, the first in the league since UTSA's Meagan Daniel in 2003.
• The Ladyjacks were at or near the top of several statistical categories in the SLC this season, and were for the majority of the year. Junior Ashley Bailey was the lone Ladyjack to finish at the top of a statistical category in the conference, edging McNeese's Nicole Bowden for the blocks title with a 1.01 per-set average. MC Bottles finished third in the league with a .347 hitting percentage, while Lauren Railey finished fourth in both kills and service aces. Whitney Schott's 10.46 assists per set was good for second, as was Laurel Kuepker's 4.34 digs per set.
• Despite starting three sophomores and a freshman, Debbie Humphreys has much more SLC Tournament experience on the court than most would anticipate. Both seniors Lauren Railey and Shelly Swendig have been to the SLC Tournament championship match each of the last two seasons, as has Ashley Bailey although she did not play in the 2006 title match. The sophomores Kelsey Owens, Whitney Schott, and Laurel Kuepker each saw action in the SLC title match last November in San Antonio. Railey has earned all-tournament honors each of the past two seasons.
• Whether SFA is in the title match on Sunday or not, there will be at least one Ladyjack that will have a hand in the final match of the 2008 SLC Tournament. Former Ladyjack, and current Associate Commissioner of External Affairs for the Southland Conference, Jenny Orndorff will be providing color commentary on the Southland Conference TV network alongside play-by-play announcer Doug Anderson. Orndorff lettered for the Ladyjacks from 1997-2000, helping lead SFA to the 1997 SLC Tournament title and the NCAA Tournament. She was an All-SLC third team selection in 2000 and honorable mention selection in 1999. She still stands sixth all-time at SFA in digs with 1,459 and showed off her smarts by earning a 1999 Academic All-Southland Conference selection.
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