Ladyjacks Announce 2008 Schedule
6/25/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
June 25, 2008
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Stephen F. Austin head volleyball coach Debbie Humphreys has announced the schedule for the upcoming 2008 volleyball season. The Ladyjacks will host 13 home matches, as well as act as host for the 2008 Southland Conference Volleyball Tournament.
Included in the non-conference schedule are teams from 12 separate conferences throughout the 31-game slate, including the Pac 10, Big 12, Sun Belt, Southern, MAC, Big West, West Coast, Missouri Valley, WAC, Atlantic 10, Conference USA and Big Sky conferences. Seven opponents finished last season ranked in the RPI top-100, with three of the opponents making it to the NCAA Tournament last year.
SFA will face defending MAC Tournament champion Miami (OH) and Saint Louis on Aug. 30th in the Miami (OH) Tournament after opening up the season on Aug. 29th against Western Carolina in Lexington, Ky. The Ladyjacks will then take part in the SMU Tournament in Dallas on Sept. 5-6 against the Mustangs, along with UC-Irvine and Montana.
Then, after traveling to Lafayette, La. to take on the Ragin' Cajuns they will open up the home portion of the season with the SFA Tournament on Sept. 12-13 at Johnson Coliseum. A strong field will be in Nacogdoches that weekend as Rice and Creighton will join Oklahoma to complete the tournament field. The Ladyjacks faced both the Owls and the Blue Jays last season in tournaments while the Sooners are coming off a 2007 season that saw them pick up an NCAA Tournament first-round victory.
The North Texas Mean Green come to Nacogdoches on Sept. 16th before SFA goes back on the road to take part in the Houston Tournament on Sept. 19-20. The Ladyjacks will open up with the host Cougars before taking on Pac 10 foe Arizona and Loyola-Marymount from the West Coast Conference.
That tournament will serve as the final tune-up for Southland Conference play as the Ladyjacks open up the 16-match conference season on Sept. 26th at Central Arkansas, followed by a road match at Northwestern State the following afternoon. Five straight home matches come up next on the schedule - the longest home string of the season for SFA - and will include the final non-conference match of the year against Louisiana Tech on Oct. 7.
The Ladyjacks make the bi-annual transition to the SLC East this year as well and will get their first taste of their former division on Oct. 18 at UT-San Antonio will take on rival Sam Houston in Nacogdoches for the only time in 2008 on Oct. 22nd.
Lamar comes to Nacogdoches on Oct. 25th in what will certainly be a revenge game for the Ladyjacks as it was the Lady Cardinals that snapped SFA's 62-match conference win streak last year, handing the Ladyjacks their first and only conference loss since 2004. Another revenge match will be quickly on the horizon as well on Oct. 25th when SFA goes to San Marcos to take on Texas State, the team that eliminated SFA in a five-game thriller in the championship match of the SLC Tournament last season.
Five of the last seven conference matches will be on the road for Humphreys' group, with the final three matches coming in on or south of Interstate 10 against McNeese State, Southeastern Louisiana and Nicholls State.
The Southland Conference Tournament will take place in Nacogdoches for the first time since 2002, beginning Sept. 21 through Sept. 23.The Ladyjacks will try and take the conference tournament crown for the second time in three years.
Over the last four seasons SFA has set the standard for volleyball in the SLC, posting a 112-21 record with four consecutive SLC titles.
-SFA-
