Ladyjacks To Take On Cajuns In Home Opener
9/1/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 1, 2009
vs Louisiana-Lafayette (3-1, 0-0 Sun Belt) - Sept. 2, 7:00 p.m.
Johnson Coliseum (7,203) - Nacogdoches, Texas
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FOR STARTERS
With three matches in the books SFA now gets the chance to break in Johnson Coliesum for 2009 with Louisiana-Lafayette coming to Nacogdoches. The Ladyjacks have never lost to ULL in 11 tries and picked up two wins over the Cajuns last year, including a win in the Spike Ike Classic in Denton, Texas, last season with four teams playing that all had their schedules altered due to the effects of Hurricane Ike.
SFA VS THE CAJUNS
vs Louisiana-Lafayette, SFA leads 11-0
The last time: SFA 3, ULL 0 • Sept. 20, 2008 • Denton, Texas
FOLLOW THE LADYJACKS
Each of the Ladyjack matches in Springfield can be followed via Live Stats at www.missouristatebears.com with a full recap following the day's events that can be found at www.sfajacks.com.
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 hit the road again next weekend in Springfield, Mo., taking part in the Results Advertising/Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational presented by Ramada Oasis that will be hosted by Missouri State. The Ladyajcks will square off with the Bears in the finale of the invitational after taking on Mississippi State, Memphis and UC-Davis in the initial three matches. No midweek games follow the tournament with SFA off to Tulsa a week later for three matches there.
Most In Texas: Since 2004, only one Division I school in the state of Texas has had a better wining percentage than the SFA Ladyjacks, but nobody has enjoyed more total wins. SFA has picked up 132 wins in the last five seasons up to this point, with nine wins more than the University of Texas. Here is where the top six rank in Texas since 2004:
Team.........Record
SFA..............134-32
Texas...........132-24
Texas State..111-58
TCU..............100-67
Texas A&M.....87-65
UT-Arlington....82-74
Little Learning Curve: Freshman Madison Hanlan wasted no time putting her name toward the forefront of the Southalnd Conference, winning the league's Defensive Player of the Week honor in her first try. Hanlan averaged 4.23 digs per set in four matches last week, including 19 digs against Western Illinois. The Ladyjacks' MC Bottles picked up a defensive POTW award a year ago as a freshman, while last year's libero Laurel Kuepker picked up the honor a league-high four times in 2008.
Set For A Change: Well so far so good with SFA's setting change as Laurel Kuepker and Paloma Buckner combined to lead SFA's offense to some impressive offensive numbers last weekend in Illinois. Between them the tandem averaged nearly 11 assists a set, while the team averaged 14 kills per set - nearly one full kill per set more than any other team in the SLC in the season's opening week.
Preseason Polls: The annual preseason polls were unveiled just before the start of the season with the Ladyjacks picked in the upper half of the league once again. Defending champion Texas State is the favorite to repeat in both polls despite losing three key starters, while last year's surprise team - Central Arkansas - was a close second. The following is a complete listing of the 2009 Southland Conference Preseason polls:
SFA In Home Openers: Johnson Coliseum has been a very friendly place for SFA, especially in home openers. The Ladyajcks will be going for their fifth consecutive win in a home opener having not lost since falling to Nicholls 3-1 in 2004. Overall under Debbie Humphreys the Ladyjacks are 17-4 in home openers, including a 11-year win streak from 1991 through 2001.
Midwest Connection: Even though SFA is located deep in the Piney Woods of East Texas, the Ladyjacks have extended their recruiting arm to the fertile grounds of the midwestern part of the United States to help supply this season's roster. For the second consecutive year the Ladyjacks will have three midwesterners on the squad, with Emily Franklin coming in from Oregon, Wisc. Add in Paloma Buckner from Washington, Ill., and Laurel Kuepker from LaPorte, Ind., and SFA's roster makes up 60 percent of all midwestern players in the Southland as only Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Lamar carry players from the region.
Preseason All-Conference Ladyjacks: SFA was the only team in the league to land a pair of middle blockers on the preseason all-conference team as MC Bottles and Ashley Bailey each made the list. Bottles was an automatic first team selection after earning first team all-league honors in 2008, making her the first freshman in Debbie Humphreys 21 seasons as head coach to be named to the all-conference first team. As for Bailey, she was named to the preseason second team after being named honorable mention all-conference following last season. Bailey led the Southland in blocks last season at 1.00 per set and the pair will give SFA arguably the strongest middle tandem in the SLC entering this season.
Finding The Offense: Like any year there was significant player turnover for the Ladyjacks following the 2008 season, and like any other year the Ladyjacks will have to have newer faces step in and inherit the offensive load that has departed. However, this year is a little different in the amount of offense that was vacated. With outside hitters Lauren Railey and Shelly Swendig gone, they took over 42 percent of last season's kills with them, and the turnover in setters has left over 83 percent of last season's assist total not on this season's roster. Aside from outside hitters MC Bottles and Ashley Bailey, Kelsey Owens returns as the only outside hitter with over 100 kills from 2008. As for the setter position, the top returner from a year ago is Paloma Buckner who dished out 127 assists from a year ago, which is the least amount of returning assists the Ladyjacks had on the roster since 2003 after Sunni Williams took 1,560 with her in her final season. That year Julie Goodson returned with the top assist mark from the previous season of just 59.
-SFA-
