SFA Tries To Stay Hot At McNeese And Lamar
9/19/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 19, 2012
SFA (11-3, 2-0 SLC) at McNeese State (3-10, 0-2 SLC)
Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012 • 7:00 p.m. (CST)
Memorial Gym (600) • Lake Charles, La.
Video: None • Live Stats: www.mcneesesports.com
SFA (11-3, 2-0 SLC) at Lamar (9-7, 1-1 SLC)
Saturday, Sept. 22, 2012 • 1:00 p.m. (CST)
McDonald Gym (500) • Beaumont, Texas
Video: None • Live Stats: www.lamarcardinals.com
September continues to roll on for Stephen F. Austin, who is on a roll of its own, winning eight of nine matches in the month and getting off to its first 2-0 start in conference play since 2008 after tough home wins over Northwestern State and Sam Houston. But there's no rest for the weary as just 48 hours after Tuesday's win over the Bearkats, SFA heads southeast for a pair of league tilts, starting Thursday at McNeese State before rounding out the weekend at Lamar.
SFA currently stands alone with Nicholls as the only unscathed teams in the league after the first round of conference play in what, early on, looks to be an extremely balanced league. The Ladyjacks are currently enjoying its second four-match win streak of the season, a feat they only pulled off once in the past two seasons.
SFA vs THE COWGIRLS
vs McNEESE, SFA leads 31-10
The last time: SFA 3, MCN 2 • Nov. 10, 2011 • Lake Charles, La.
SFA vs THE CARDINALS
vs LAMAR, SFA leads 22-20
The last time: LU 3, SFA 1 • Nov. 12, 2011 • Beaumont
LIVE STATS: SFA's match on Thursday can be followed via live stats at www.mcneeseports.com, while Saturday's can be followed at www.lamarcardinals.com
LIVE CHAT: Fans can join in with Greg Miller of www.sfavolleyblog.net on Saturday when he conducts a live chat during SFA's match vs Lamar. Just go to sfavolleyblog.net to enter the live chat, complete with commentary and real-time score updates.
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.
NOT YOUR AVERAGE JILL: Jill Ivy is off to a stellar start to her sophomore year, averaging 2.98 kills per set and earning all-tournament honors twice. She's put down at least 10 kills in 12 of 14 matches on the year, right where she left off last season when she closed out the year with at least 10 in five of her last six matches of the season. One of those nights was a 21-kill effort in a win over South Dakota, and she nearly equaled that on Tuesdsay with 18 in a five-set win over Sam Houston.
LESLIE NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK: True freshman Cara Leslie had a breakout week at the Chilly Fillmore's Invitational and was rewarded with the honor of Southland Conference Offensive Player of the Week on Monday. Leslie averaged 3.55 kills in SFA's three wins and hit a gaudy .455 for the week. She is the first Ladyjack freshman to win a league player of the week honor since 2008, and the first to win an offensive player of the week honor since Lauren Railey in 2005.
A NEW PAIGE: Sophomore setter Paige Holland had a great weekend at home at the Chilly Fillmore's Invitational. She averaged 11.82 assists per set in three SFA wins and guided the Ladyjacks to solid .208 hitting as a team for the weekend, earning tournament MVP honors. Already, in less than two years, she has shot up the assist charts at SFA with 1,755 which is seventh all-time. She needs just 15 to move into sole possession of sixth before needing over 600 more to move into the top five.
CLIMBING THE CHARTS: Senior libero Madison Hanlan is off to a great start to her final season, earning all-tournament honors at both the UTA Invitational and UND Classic, as well as capturing the Southland's initial Defensive Player of the Week honor, the fourth of her career. In the midst of that, she has moved into second place all-time at SFA in digs and has now totaled 1,844 digs for her career. She needs 156 to join Stephanie Figgers as just the second Ladyjack to total 2,000 digs for her career. Hanlan has averaged no less than 4.24 digs per set each season to date and if she does that again, she will also join Figgers with four seasons that rank in SFA's top 10.
STARTING STRONG: With its win over Sam Houston State, SFA has now won eight of its last nine matches and is 11-3 to start the season. The Ladyjacks have won 11 of its first 14 now three times since 2006 and are just short of their best ever start through 14 matches, an 12-2 mark set in 2005, 1998, 1994 and 1993.
B1G WIN: The Ladyjacks found themselves against a wall in Friday's opener of the Butler Classic in Indianapolis, down 2-1 to the Indiana Hoosiers of the Big 10. But SFA rallied to knot the match 2-2 and then clawed back from a 10-3 deficit in the fifth set to take the match. The win was SFA's first ever volleyball win in three tries vs a Big 10 opponent, as well as SFA's first-ever win over a Big 10 school in any sport.
20/20 VISION: At the UND Classic the Ladyjacks had a pair of hitters go over the 20-kill mark in a match, beginning with Jill Ivy's 21 scores vs South Dakota and followed one match later by Katzy Randall's 21 in a win over North Dakota. Each of them did that once as freshmen last season while the Ladyjacks had just three 20-kill performances as a team for the year. That gives SFA five 20-kill outings in the past two years after not having a single 20-kill match from an individual since 2007.
DOWN, BUT NOT OUT: SFA had to dig deep to pick up its win over South Dakota, falling behind 2-0 before ralling to knock off the Coyotes 3-2. It was the first time since the final match of 2010 vs Lamar in which the Ladyjacks dropped the first two sets before coming back to pick up the win. SFA has five such wins in five seasons since 2008.
-SFA-
