SFA Hits Home Stretch Against SLC East
11/4/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 4, 2009
Northwestern State (2-18, 1-11 Southland) - Nov. 5, 7:00 p.m.
Prather Coliseum (3,600)
Central Arkansas (23-3, 12-0 Southland) - Nov. 7, 1:00 p.m.
Prince Center (300) - Conway, Ark.
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FOR STARTERS
Teams throughout the Southland Conference are hitting the stretch run of the league season beginning this week as they make their second run through divisional play.
SFA currently sits in fifth place in the SLC, just a half-game behind Lamar after going 1-1 in a pair of home matches last week. Now the Ladyjacks will test themselves for the second time against Northwestern State and Central Arkansas, who eeked out a five-set victory in Nacogdoches on the league's first week of conference play.
SFA VS THE OPPONENTS
vs Northwestern State, SFA leads 35-0
The last time: SFA 3, NWLA 0 • Sept. 26 • Nacogdoches
vs UCA, SFA leads 3-2
The last time: UCA 3, SFA 2 • Sept. 28 • Nacogdoches
FOLLOW THE LADYJACKS
SFA's matches versus the Demons can be followed via Live Stats at www.nsudemons.com, and will also be available for Saturday's match at UCA at www.ucasports.com
Fans can join sfavolleyblog.net's Greg Miller courtside for a Live Chat from Natchitoches by accessing www.sfavolleyblog.net
Also, keep up with other news and notes about the Ladyjacks with the Ladyjack Volleyball Blog at sfajacks.com, and at www.sfavolleyblog.net.
WHAT'S NEXT
The Ladyjacks wrap up the regular season next week with three straight home matches in five days. SFA will be looking to sweep the season series from both McNeese State and Southeastern Louisiana, while also getting the chance to avenge its five-set loss to Nicholls.
SFA then heads off to San Antonio for the annual SLC Tournament, set for Nov. 20-22 at the Convocation Center.
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 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.
If It Started Today:
With the Southland Conference Tournament ony two weeks away, the field is slowly starting to take shape. With Central Arkansas in its final transition year and lacking eligibility for the tournament, Sam Houston currently holds the top seed in the tournament, while the Ladyjacks would be No. 4 if it started today as they are only a half game back of Lamar, despite holding the tiebreaker over the Cards. Here is how the tournament field would look if it started today:
No. 1 Sam Houston (19-10, 11-1 SLC) vs No. 8 Southeastern La. (8-15, 4-8 SLC)
No. 2 Texas State (15-12, 9-3 SLC) vs No. 7 UTSA (10-16, 5-7 SLC)
No. 3 Lamar (13-10, 8-4 SLC) vs No. 6 UT-Arlington (9-15, 5-7 SLC)
No. 4 SFA (18-11, 7-4 SLC) vs No. 5 McNeese State (17-8, 5-6 SLC)
DEMON DOMINATION: Since Debbie Humphreys took over the Ladyjack program, she has never lost to Thursday's opponent - Northwestern State. Of Humphrey's 502 wins, 35 have come against the Demons, which is the most of any opponent in her career. In that time, only three times has a atch gone five sets, with that not having happened since 2003 and each of the last nine meetings between the team has come in three sets.
She's Gotta Handle On It: Freshman Madison Hanlan has wasted no time putting her name toward the forefront of the discussion of Southalnd Conference liberos. In her first season she has already totaled the second-highest dig mark (465) for a freshman Ladyjack with only future all-American Stephanie Figgers' 504 digs in 2003 having totaled more. Hanlan won the league's Defensive Player of the Week honor in her first week on the job and currently sits second in the league with 4.27 digs per set, getting at least 10 in each of her last 20 matches dating back to a 21-dig outing at Missouri State. Six times this season she has gone over 20 digs, and set a career-best of 26 at McNeese which currently stands tied as the fourth best in the SLC this season in a four-set match.
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.
Ay Paloma: Senior setter Paloma Buckner went past a career milestone on Saturday, becoming only the 10th Ladyjack to amass 1,000 career assists. The Washington, Ill., native has averaged 10.46 assists per set in her last seven matches. If she maintains that pace, she would be able to accumulate the 183 assists she needs to pass Lauren Adams for ninth on the all-time list at SFA.
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 20 matches only five teams - Miami, Tulane,Nicholls, Texas State and Sam Houston State - 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 third in the entire SLC in opponent's hitting percentage, second in digs and first in blocks. SFA's match had to be frustrating for the Ladyjacks at Sam Houston, but mainly because it was something that the team had not seen in a while. The Kats managed to hit .254 as a team against the Ladyjacks, which was the first time in 17 matches dating back to Tulsa on Sept. 11 that the SFA defense had allowed a team to hit over .250 for a match. In the 16 matches following Tulsa and before Sam Houtson, the Ladyjacks had held its opponents to just .144 swinging and mananged to pick up 11 wins. SFA wasted no time getting back to its defensive ways, though, as on Saturday it went down to Beaumont and held Lamar to just .179 hitting in a 3-0 sweep.
