Ladyjacks Take On SLC West Leaders
10/20/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 20, 2009
Sam Houston (15-10, 7-1 Southland) - Oct. 21, 7:00 p.m.
Johnson Coliseum (6,100) - Huntsville
Lamar (11-8, 6-2 Southland) - Oct. 24, 3:00 p.m.
McDonald Gym (500) - Beaumont
Complete Release
FOR STARTERS
The Ladyjacks got Debbie Humphreys her 500th career win on Saturday over UTSA and now take on the two top teams in the SLC West this week - Sam Houston and Lamar - on the road.
SFA is currently riding a three-match win streak and has won three of its last four on the road after starting off the season by dropping each of its first four true road matches.
SFA VS THE OPPONENTS
vs Sam Houston, SFA leads 29-12
The last time: SHSU 3, SFA 2 • Nov. 21, 2008 • Nacogdoches
vs Lamar, SFA leads 20-19
The last time: Lamar 3, SFA 2 • Oct. 25, 2008 • Nacogdoches
FOLLOW THE LADYJACKS
SFA's match versus the Bearkats can be followed via Live Stats at www.gobearkats.com, while Saturday's match in Beaumont can be followed via Gametracker at www.lamarcardinals.com. Also, fans can join SFA Athletics courtside from Huntsville for a live chat during the match.
Also, keep up with other news and notes about the Ladyjacks with the Ladyjack Volleyball Blog at sfajacks.com, and at www.sfavolleyblog.net. The matches can also be followed via live video streaming at www.sfajacks.com
WHAT'S NEXT
SFA's wraps up its trip through the SLC West next week when it hosts Texas State and UTA at Johnson Coliseum.
The Ladyjacks then go away from home for the final time this season before the league tournament for a pair of SLC East matches, including its final match against league leader Central Arkansas.
Humphreys Hits Milestone: Head coach Debbie Humphreys continues to become more and more cemented as not only one of the most successful coaches in the Southland, but also one of the most successful coaches in the nation. On Saturday Humphreys became the first head coach in the history of the Southland Conference to pick up 500 wins as a member of the league with her win over UTSA. Only two other coaches in the league - Texas State's Karen Chisum and Sam Houston's Brenda Gray - have reached the 500 win mark. She entered the season ranked 30th in the country in wins among Division I active head coaches, and is the fifth coach in the nation this season alone to reach 500 career wins, with only American's Barry Goldberg reaching 500 in less seasons among that group.
MOVE, GET OUT THE BAY!: Ashley Bailey is closing out her Ladyjack career just how Debbie Humphreys had envisioned it - with a career season that could result in conference Player of the Year honors if she is able to keep up the pace. Bailey is averaging career highs in kills and hitting percentage and has helped SFA become the top statistical defense in the Southland. Coming into her senior year Bailey was not always a consistent go-to force offensively with only 11 career double-digit kill outings in her previous three seasons, but this year she has already picked up at least 10 kills on 13 occasions, all in a 13-match streak that finally came to an end at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. However, Bailey still made a huge defensive impact in the SFA sweep. The senior rejected 10 shots in only three sets, setting a new career high and posting the highest single-match block total in the SLC this season. Before her performance the highest three-set block total in the SLC was 10 and was the most overall blocks in a single match since Briana Taylor had 13 against Houston on Sept. 14, 2007. She followed that up with seven more blocks against UTSA on Saturday, including five blocks solos, which was the third most block solos ever for a Ladyjack in a single match and the most since Brittany Burton had five against Louisiana-Lafayette on Sept. 5, 2003.
Jones To Face `Jacks: Saturday will mark a reunion of sorts for Debbie Humphreys and the Lamar coaching staff as LU head coach Justin Gibert and assistant JJ Jones each have ties to the Ladyjack program. Gibert was an assistant under Humphreys for two seasons at SFA before taking the head gig at Lamar. As for Jones, she was unquestionably one of the greatest Ladyjacks to ever wear the jersey and is the all-time assists leader at SFA with 5,121. She helped lead the Ladyjacks to four straight league titles from 2004-07, including the program's first NCAA Tournament win over Alabama in 2006, and was named first team all-conference in her final three seasons. She was named the SLC Freshman of the Year in 2004 and SLC Setter of the Year in both 2005 and 2006.
Chance For Payback: Each of this week's matches have the opportunity to serve as revenge wins for the Ladyjacks as both Lamar and Sam Houston have delivered tough losses to the Ladyjacks in recent years. SFA had beaten Lamar eight consecutive times, including seven straight sweeps, before the Cardinals came into Johnson Coliseum and left with five-set wins in each of the past two seasons, including 2007's win where LU became the team to snap SFA's 62-mach conference win streak. As for the Kats, they had lost 12 consecutive times to SFA before last year's conference tournament when Sam Houston came back from a 2-1 deficit to pick up a 3-2, first round win over SFA.
Finally In Five: It was a weight off the shoulders of the Ladyjacks on Saturday in its win over UTSA as SFA won its first five-set match of the season in its sixth try. Still, each of SFA's last five losses have come in five sets; however, Saturday's win was able to put an end to the Ladyjacks' longest five-set drought in the Humphreys era. Overall, SFA had lost eight consecutive five-set matches dating back to the end of the 2008 season.
Back To Basics: Debbie Humphreys made a point in the off season to emphasize a return to what won SFA four SLC titles from 2004-2007: Defense. So far it looks as though the emphasis has worked, especially as of late. In their last 15 matches only two teams - Miami, Tulane and Nicholls - have been able to hit over .140 against SFA, including Central Arkansas who came into its match as the top statistical offense in the Southland. Humphreys message is obivously getting through as SFA is second in the entire SLC in opponent's hitting percentage and digs, and second in blocks.
Little Learning Curve: Freshman Madison Hanlan has wasted no time putting her name toward the forefront of the discussion of Southalnd Conference liberos. She won the league's Defensive Player of the Week honor in her first week on the job and currently sits third in the league with 4.15 digs per set, getting at least 10 in each of her last 16 matches dating back to a 21-dig outing at Missouri State. Five times this season she has gone over 20 digs, and set a career-best of 26 at McNeese which currently stands as the third best in the SLC this season in a four-set match.
-SFA-
