Ladyjack Volleyball Game Notes: vs Houston Baptist, vs Nicholls
10/18/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 18, 2011
at Houston Baptist (17-6, 4-1 GWC) - Oct. 19, 6:30 p.m.
at Nicholls (15-9, 2-6 SLC) - Oct. 22, 1:00 p.m.
Game Notes
FOR STARTERS
Having split its last 10 matches overall, and coming off a home split vs Texas State and UT-Arlington last wee, the Ladyjack volleyball team will look to continue making headway toward a berth in the Southland Conference Tournament with a pair of matches this week vs non-conference Houston Baptist and conference foe Nicholls.
Currently SFA sits in a tie for sixth place in the Southland Conference, but with just three matches remaining vs the Southland’s East Division, the Ladyjacks need to make headway to earn a ticket to Conway, Ark., after missing the league’s postseason tournament for the first time in program history last season.
SFA will be taking on Houston Baptist on Wednesday in its final non-conference game of the season, battling the Huskies for the first time since the 1988 season. HBU has had plenty of success vs the Southland this year, holding a 7-0 record vs the SLC with quality wins over UTSA, Texas State and Sam Houston.
Meanwhile, the Ladyjacks had been in total domination of the series vs the Colonels; however, a pair of five-set wins in Thibodaux, La., for Nicholls in the past two years put an end to that. Still, Nicholls will be in search of its first win in Nacogdoches since the 2004 season.
The Ladyjacks will then go on the road for four of its final six matches, including road matches next week at Texas State and UT-Arlington less than two weeks after hosting each team at Shelton Gym.
SFA vs THE HUSKIES
vs HBU, SFA leads 3-0
The last time: SFA 3, HBU 0 • Oct. 4, 1988 • Nacogdoches
SFA vs THE COLONELS
vs NICH, SFA leads 34-5
The last time: NICH 3, SFA 2 • Oct. 23, 2010 • Thibodaux, La.
LIVE STATS: Each match can be followed via Gametracker at www.sfajacks.com
FOLLOW SFA ATHLETICS: Fans are encouraged to follow along with SFA Volleyball and SFA Athletics as a whole via SFA’s social media sites on Facebook (SFA Athletics) and Twitter (@SFA_Athletics). Up-to-the minute match updates, as well as the latest news can be found via these outlets from all home matches and selected road matches.
STEPPING IN RIGHT DIRECTION: A year removed from easily the most disappointing season in program history, the Ladyjacks have done a quality job of stepping forward in 2011, despite seven freshmen on the roster. With Saturday’s win over UT-Arlington, the Ladyjacks have already equaled their win total from last season and need one more league win to equal its SLC win count from 2010.
EARLY MOMENTUM: It’s always important for a team to start quickly, but moreso for this year’s youthful group of Ladyjacks, as is evident in its record after set one. When SFA is able to secure a first-set victory, it is 9-2; however, the Ladyjacks have only come back to take a match twice in 12 tries after falling in the opening set.
HANDLING HANLAN: In Madison Hanlan’s first two seasons in Nacogdoches she never hit the 30-dig mark, despite starting every available match at libero in those years; however, this year she has already hit the 30-dig plateau twice, including a 36-dig effort in SFA’s last win over UAB. Most recently she picked up exactly 30 digs in SFA’s loss to Sam Houston State. It’s the first time since Laurel Kuepker in 2008 that a Ladyjack has had 30 digs in a match on multiple occasions in a season. She also needs just 31 more digs this year to become just the fifth Ladyjack in program history to reach 1,500 digs for her career.
PREMIUM BOTTLES: Senior MC Bottles is looking to join Kristy Rhodes (1998-2001) and Wendy Walling (1990-93) as just the third player in SFA history to earn all-SLC honors in all four years of play. After earning all-conference second team honors last year, she was an automatic selection to this year’s preseason all-SLC first team as SFA’s only representative on the team. The middle blocker from Rowlett, Texas, surpassed 1,000 for her career at ULM and needs 64 more to move into the SFA all-time top 10. She’s already made her way into the top 10 in blocks and needs 14 more to become just the sixth Ladyjack with 400 career blocks. She still has a chance to join Brittany Burton, Aubrey Duncan and Traci Rohde as only the fourth Ladyjack to total 1,300 kills and 400 blocks for a career.
TRIO OF DOUBLES: In it’s win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, SFA had three players - Katzy Randall, Paige Holland and Sabrina Burns - finish the match with a double-double. Burns’ double-double was the first of her career and included 10 blocks, marking the first time an SFA player picked up a double-double with 10 blocks in a match since MC Bottles did so versus Portland last season. Overall, the match turned out to be the first timeSFA had three-players with double-doubles in the same match since Whitney Schott, Lauren Railey and Shelly Swendig had double-doubles in a 3-1 loss to Montana on Sept. 5, 2008 - a span of of 120 matches.
TURNING THE PAIGE: Freshman setter Paige Holland has quickly taken to the starting setter role for the Ladyjacks through two weeks of collegiate volleyball, and will enter this weekend fifth in the Southland Conference with 9.66 assists per set. It’s not as though SFA hasn’t had success with freshman setters before, but Holland will have work to do to take hold of the single-season freshman total-assists record at SFA. The 2004 mark from JJ Jones, albeit in 30-point sets, of 1,244 assists (11.96) stands as the all-time record. Holland would have to average 46.9 assists per match for the remaining eight regular-season matches of the year to surpass Jones’ mark.
YOUTH TO BE SERVED: After suffering through a disappointing 2010 season, the Ladyjacks will send a revamped roster to the court in 2011 with 10 new faces joining just six returners from a year ago. Of those 10 newcomers, only three are transfers, leaving room for seven freshmen. The seven freshmen are makes up the second biggest freshman class in the SLC behind only Northwestern State’s nine. Texas State has seven freshmen listed on its roster as well; however, two of them are redshirts from a year ago.
-SFA-
