SFA To Host Mean Green On Wednesday
9/14/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 14, 2010
North Texas (6-5, 0-0 Horizon) - 6:00 p.m., Sept. 15
Samford (6-5, 0-0 Southern Conference) - 10:30 p.m., Sept. 17
Arkansas State (4-5, 0-0 Sun Belt) - 5:00 p.m. Sept. 17
Rice (3-5, 0-0 Conference USA) - 3:00 p.m. Sept. 18
UNT, Rice Invitational Game Notes
FOR STARTERS
A long week wraps up the non-conference portion of the schedule for SFA with four matches in four days on the calendar. The Ladyjacks split two matches last week at the Drake Bulldog Challenge and will play just its second home match on Wednesday at home versus North Texas.
The Mean Green had lost nine concseucitve meetings between the teams dating back to 1995 before pulling out a five-set win in Denton last season.
The Ladyjacks hold a 16-10 all-time advantage against the four three teams they face at the Rice Tournament, but the last time they faced any of them was in 2007 when SFA knocked off Rice.
SFA vs THE FIELD
vs North Texas, SFA leads 15-5
The last time: UNT 3, SFA 2 • Sept. 22, 2009 • Denton,Texas
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vs Samford, SFA leads 2-0
The last time: SFA 3, Samford 0 • Sept. 1, 2001 • Houston
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vs Arkansas State, Tied 4-4
The last time: SFA 3, ASU 0 • Sept. 9, 2006 • Nacogdoches
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vs Rice, SFA leads 10-6
The last time: SFA 3, Rice 2 • Sept. 15, 2007 • Houston
FOLLOW THE LADYJACKS
LIVE STATS: Gametracker will be available for all four SFA matches this week at www.sfajacks.com
Fans can also watch via live video of Wednesday's match vs North Texas on SFA All-Access
UP NEXT
Southland Conference play opens up next week with a pair of road matches for the Ladyjacks, starting Sept. 23 at Northwestern State. The road trip continues two days later when SFA travels to defending SLC champion Central Arkansas before returning home the following week for home matches against UTSA and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
THEY CAN DIG IT: Despite the offensive numbers not taking off quite yet with a young roster, the Ladyjacks are can still hang their hat as being one of the top teams in the conference in terms of digs. SFA has routinely been at or near the top of the conference in digs year in and year out, and this year is no exception. SFA ranks 15.74 digs per set as a team, the highest mark the team has posted since 2007.
MIKSCH EARNS ALL-TOURNAMENT: Junior Melissa Miksch put together her best weekend of the season in Des Moines, earning all-tournament honors at the Bulldog Challenge. She hit double figures in kills for the first two times this season, including a double-double with 10 kills and 11 digs in SFA's win over Wisconsin-Green Bay. Her biggest asset this season to date has been on the back row and at the service line, netting at least 10 digs six times in 11 matches, while in Iowa she also picked up seven service aces.
BLOCK PARTY: The Ladyjacks were not able to pull out the five-set win over Portland on the first day of the Shocker Classic, but it wasn't for a lack of success at the net. SFA rejected 20 shots in the match, which is five blocks more than any other SLC team has posted in a single match this season. In fact, it is only the fifth time since 2004 that a Southland team has recorded at least 20 blocks in a match.
LOW FIVE TO HIGH FIVE: After going just 1-6 in five-set matches in 2009, SFA has already been pushed to the limit four times in 2010, and already the Ladyjacks have responded in a positive way. SFA pulled out a five-set win over Butler at the Baylor Classic and then once again in the home opener against ULM. Most recetly the Ladyjacks pulled off a five-set comeback, erasing a 2-0 deficit to win in five over Wisconsin-Green Bay over the weekend.
AT THE TOP OF TEXAS: Since 2004, only one Division I school in the state of Texas has had more wins and/or a better wining percentage than the SFA Ladyjacks, the perennially powerful Texas Longhorns. SFA has picked up 157 wins in the last six seasons, just four win less than the University of Texas.
MC HAMMER: Already twice this season junior middle blocker MC Bottles has shown why she was selected to the all-conference team in each of her firs two years as a Ladyjack, hitting the 20-kill mark in each of SFA's two wins against Butler and ULM. Her career-best 23 kills against Butler was the first time in her career she had hit the 20-kill plateau, but it only took her two matches to do it again, posting 20 kills in a five-set win over ULM.
STRIVING FOR SEVEN: SFA posted a 24-13 record in 2010 for its sixth consecutive 20-win season, but the team is still years behind the all-time record for consecutive 20-win seasons. From 1992-99 SFA put together eight straight 20-win seasons, which also ties UT-Arlington's run of eight staight from 1982-89 for the Southland Conference record. SFA has its work cut out for it this season, needing to win 16 of its final 20 matches this season to reach the 20-win mark before the beginning of the Southland Conference Tournament.
-SFA-
