Ladyjacks Announce 2009 Schedule
6/9/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
June 9, 2009
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Head volleyball coach Debbie Humphreys has released the schedule for the upcoming 2009 Ladyjack volleyball season. The Ladyjacks will host 14 home matches at Johnson Coliseum, including hosting the Ladyjack Invitational in September.
Humphreys has scheduled seven teams that finished in the RPI top 100 in 2008, including four teams qualifying for the NCAA Tournament. The 18-match, non-conference, schedule includes opponents from 11 conferences including the Horizon League, Summit League, Missouri Valley, Big 12, SEC, West Coast Conference, Conference USA, Southwest Athletic Conference, Sun Belt, MAC, and Big West.
A trip to Dekalb, Ill., to take part in the Northern Illinois Tournament will open up the season on August 28-29 before SFA plays its first home match on Sept. 2 against Louisiana-Lafayette. SFA did not play its first home match of 2008 until Sept. 16 due to cancellations from the effects of Hurricane Ike.
SFA will then be off to the Missouri State Tournament to join the field made up of Mississippi State, Memphis, UC-Davis and Missouri State. The host Bears have made the NCAA Tournament in five of the last six seasons, including last year after having won the Missouri Valley Conference title.
After a short layoff, SFA then heads to Tulsa, Okla., for the Tulsa Tournament, returning the favor after the Golden Hurricane participated in the 2007 Ladyjack Invitational. Tulsa finished 22-11 in 2008 and will be joined by Texas Tech and Gonzaga as opponents for SFA. Humphreys got her first win over her alma mater [Texas Tech] last season in her third try and she will be looking to make it two straight in 2009.
The Ladyjacks will play host in their final non-conference tournament, Sept. 18-19, at Johnson Coliseum as Alcorn State, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Houston and Miami (OH) will complete the five-team field. Both Houston and Miami (OH) posted 20-win seasons last year, with the Red Hawks earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament where they picked up a first-round win.
A road match at North Texas on Sept. 22 will wrap up the pre-conference schedule just before SFA hosts Northwestern State on Sept. 26 and Central Arkansas on Sept. 28. to open up SLC play.
The Ladyjacks will then host Tulane on Oct. 1 in arguably their toughest non-conference test of the season, after the Green Wave finished 2008 regular season at No. 16 in the national rankings and went on to go two rounds deep in the NCAA Tournament.
Following that tilt with the Green Wave, the Ladyjacks then play six of its next seven matches on the road, only seeing its home floor once until Oct. 29. That stretch begins with a tour of Southern Louisiana that includes matches with McNeese State, Nicholls and Southeastern Louisiana and eventually capped off back in the Lone Star State at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Oct. 12.
A road match at UTSA is backed up by a three straight battles with West Division rivals Sam Houston, defending SLC Tournament champion Lamar and defending SLC Champion Texas State.
SFA closes out October by hosting UTA before christening November on the road at Northwestern State and Central Arkansas. The Ladyjacks then get three straight home matches to close out the regular season, including senior night scheduled for Nov. 14 against Nicholls in the regular season finale.
After the conclusion of the regular season, attention will then shift to the Southland Conference Tournament that is moving back to the Convocation Center in San Antonio, from Nov. 20-22.
The Ladyjacks are coming off their fifth consecutive 20-win season in 2008. First team all-conference selection MC Bottles headlines 10 returning players from last year's roster that also includes Laurel Kuepker and Ashley Bailey, each of whom were honorable mention all-conference in 2008.
-SFA-
