SFA Heads To SLC Tournament
11/19/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 19, 2009
Southland Conference Tournament - Nov. 20-22
Convocation Center (5,100) - San Antonio, Texas
Click HERE for complete SLC Tournament release in PDF format.
Click HERE SLC Tournament Central.
FOR STARTERS
The Ladyjacks will chase its fifth conference tournament title this weekend and comes in playing arguably its best volleyball of the year with three straight wins to close out the regular season.
SFA draws the host UTSA Roadrunners in the first round of the tournament on the bottom side of the bracket, with the tournament winner taking the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
SFA VS THE FIELD
vs Texas State, TXST leads 23-22
The last time: TXST 3, SFA 0 • Oct. 29 • Nacogdoches
vs Sam Houston, SFA leads 29-13
The last time: SHSU 3, SFA 2 • Oct. 21 • Huntsville
vs Lamar, SFA leads 21-19
The last time: SFA 3, Lamar 0 • Oct. 24 • Beaumont
vs UT-Arlington, SFA leads 24-17
The last time: SFA 3, UTA 0 • Oct. 3 • Nacogdoches
vs UTSA, SFA leads 29-7
The last time: SFA 3, UTSA 2 • Oct. 17 • Nacogdoches
vs Nicholls, SFA leads 33-4
The last time: SFA 3, NICH 0 • Nov. 14 • Nacogdoches
vs Southeastern La., SFA leads 27-2
The last time: SFA 3, SELA 0 • Nov. 12 • Nacogdoches
SLC TOURNAMENT MEDIA
Each of SFA's three matches this week can be followed online via Live Stats at www.southland.org, or via free online video streaming via SLC NOW. Sunday's championship match will be aired live on the Southland Conference Television Network with Doug Anderson providing play-by-play and former Ladyjack Jenny (Orndorff) McGhee on the mic with color commentary for the second consecutive season.
Fans can also access a live chat at www.sfajacks.com from courtside at the Convocation Center with Assistant Director of Media Relations Ben Rikard, and also Greg Miller of www.sfavolleyblog.net.
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. 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 was 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.
20 x 6: With SFA's win on November 10 over McNeese state it secured a sixth consecutive season with at least 20 wins for the Ladyjacks, making SFA only the fourth program since the Southland Conference adopted volleyball in 1982 to pick up 20 wins in six consecutive seasons. The Ladyjacks (1992-99) and UT-Arlington (1982-89) each hold the league record with eight straight 20-win campaigns, while the last league program other than SFA to do so was Sam Houston with six straight 20-win seasons from 1989-1994.
Finally In Five: It was a weight off the shoulders of the Ladyjacks on Oct. 17, 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 six losses have come in five sets; however, that win 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.
All-Conference Ladyjacks: The Southland Conference announced its annual all-conference teams earlier this week, and once again there was a Ladyjack on the first team. Senior Ashley Bailey was named to the first team for the first time in her career after being named honorable mention in 2008 and preseason all-conference second before the start of this season. Her first team selection marks the 18th consecutive season in which the Ladyjacks have had someone on the first team and gives SFA 12 first team selections since 2005 - the next closest in that category is Texas State with six. Also, MC Bottles and Madison Hanlan were each recognized with Bottles being named to the second team and Hanlan earning honorable mention honors in her first season as a Ladyjack.
Experience On The Big Stage: The Ladyjacks go into this weekend's Southland Conference Tournament with several players that have still have memories of the last two times that SFA went after a tournament title on the Convocation Center floor. Ashley Bailey is the only Ladyjack remaining off of the 2006 roster that took the tournament title in San Antonio; however, Laurel Kuepker, Kelsey Owens and Arielle Daron joined Bailey on the 2007 roster that made it all the way to the tournament's title match versus Texas State. Those four will be counted on heavily for experience this week as no other player on the Ladyjack roster has yet to experience a win in the SLC Tournament.
As A Madder Of Fact: Freshman Madison Hanlan has wasted no time putting her name toward the forefront of the discussion among Southland Conference liberos. In her first season she has already set a new mark for total digs by a Ladyjack freshman with 539, eclipsing former all-American Stephanie Figgers'total from her freshman season of 2003. Hanlan also recently won the league's Defensive Player of the Week honor in the regular season's final week, bookending the regular season with the award after she also took it after the first week of the regular season. She closed out the regular season second in the league with a 4.28 digs per set average, and has gone over 20 digs in a match seven times this season, with a career best of 26 at McNeese. That mark currently stands tied as the fourth best in the SLC this season in a four-set match.
Once A Ladyjack: 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] McGhee will be providing color commentary on the Southland Conference TV network alongside play-by-play announcer Doug Anderson. McGhee 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.
-SFA-
