SFA Heads To Metroplex For Radisson Invitational
9/3/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 3, 2008
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - With the longest road trip of the season already behind them, the Ladyjack volleyball team gets to stay within state lines this weekend when it travels to Dallas to take part in the Radisson Invitational hosted by SMU.
SFA opens up with the early match on Friday, an 11 a.m. start against undefeated New Orleans, followed by a 5 p.m. match at Moody Coliseum against Montana. SFA and SMU will then square off at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday in the tournament finale.
All games can be followed via Gametracker at www.sfajacks.com.
The Ladyjacks are coming off a 1-2 opening weekend that included a win over Western Carolina and losses to Saint Louis and Miami (OH). Senior outside hitters Lauren Railey and Shelly Swendig were each named to the all-tournament team for their efforts with Railey posting the tournament's single-match high of 17 kills against the Redhawks.
SFA will play one more road match against Louisiana-Lafayette next week before opening the home portion of the schedule by hosting the Ladyjack Invitational sponsored by The Grove on Sept. 12-13.
A Look At The Opponents
New Orleans: The Privateers missed out on the brunt of Hurricane Gustav, waiting it out in Auburn, Ala., after winning all three matches in the tournament there over the weekend. They return eight letterwinners from a 16-16 team a year ago and are led by second-year head coach Jozsef Forman. Lindsey Lloyd was named MVP of the War Eagle Invitational, with Jayci Bayley and Dobrilla Kovacevic each named to the all-tournament team.
Montana: The Grizzlies went 3-1 as the host of their season-opening tournament, winning the first three matches of the weekend before falling in three sets to North Dakota State. It will be the second all-time meeting with Montana for SFA, having beaten the Grizzlies in the Iowa State Tournament in 2005. Amy Roberts leads the team through four matches with a 3.36 kpg average and setter Taryn Wright has already dished out 150 assists.
SMU: SFA and SMU fought it out in a five-game match, with SFA pulling out the win to give the Ladyjacks three consecutive wins over the Ponies. In this year's opening weekend, SMU dropped the opening match to Baylor before knocking off Prairie View A&M and Lamar to take two of three at the Baylor Invitational. They will have one more tune-up mach at home versus UT-Arlington on Wednesday before kicking off their tournament alslo. Kathryn Willkerson and Dana Powell were each named to the all-tournament team in Waco. What To Watch For: • The Ladyjacks have won their last three matches against SMU.
• The Ladyjacks are 5-2 against Conference USA opponents since 2006, 2-1 against the Big Sky Conference since 2005 and 7-2 versus the Sun Belt since 2004.
• With 37 more kills, Lauren Railey will pass former teammate Traci Rohde for sole possession of 8th place on the all-time kills list at SFA. With 81 more attacks she will pass Michelle Reid to move into sole possession of 5th place at SFA in that category.
• Shelly Swendig has moved into 9th place all-time at SFA with a current .243 career attack percentage.
-SFA-
