Ladyjacks Continue Important SLC Home Stand
10/22/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Game 24: Stephen F. Austin (16-7, 9-0 SLC) vs. Sam Houston State (12-8, 5-2 SLC)
Thursday, Oct. 23 (6:30 p.m.) – Shelton Gym
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Game 25: Stephen F. Austin (16-7, 9-0 SLC) vs. Lamar (3-16, 3-4 SLC)
Saturday, Oct. 25 (12:00 p.m.) – Shelton Gym
• Live Stats
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The Stephen F. Austin women’s volleyball team is set to continue a three-match week on Thursday night at 6:30 p.m. against the Bearkats of Sam Houston State. The match marks the second of three Southland Conference home contests within a five-day period for the Ladyjacks this week. SFA will square off against Lamar on Saturday afternoon at 12:00 p.m. before getting a week off from action.
The next chapter of the “Battle of the Piney Woods” – volleyball edition – will be the most important match for the Ladyjacks so far this season as they look to remain perfect in conference play. At 9-0, SFA is one of only two undefeated teams (Central Arkansas – 10-0) in the SLC while SHSU sits third in the table with a 5-2 conference record.
The Ladyjacks earned a big conference victory against Northwestern State on Tuesday night to begin their jam-packed week. SFA displayed great defense and scrappy play to take down a team picked to finish second behind Central Arkansas at the beginning of the year. Juniors OJ Olson and Madison Martin combined for 26 digs to help the Ladyjacks limit the Lady Demons to a .103 attack percentage on the night in a 3-0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-16) sweep.
The Ladyjacks are now 16-7 overall, and have won 14 of their last 16 matches dating back to Sept. 10.
NOTES:
• SFA vs. Sam Houston State – Thursday night’s match will be the 50th meeting all-time for the Ladyjacks and Bearkats. SFA leads the series 31-18 but has dropped seven of the last nine dating back to a five-set loss in the Southland Conference Tournament in 2008. The Ladyjacks won 12 straight decisions from 2002-07 before being ousted in the ’08 tournament. Last year SHSU swept SFA (25-20, 25-23, 26-24) on Oct. 24 in Shelton Gym.
• Scouting Sam Houston State – The Bearkats are coming off a tough loss against conference favorite Central Arkansas last Saturday. They held a 2-1 lead before falling in five to the undefeated Sugar Bears. Prior to the match, Sam Houston had won five straight against Nicholls (3-1), McNeese State (3-0), Incarnate Word (3-0), Abilene Christian (3-0) and Lamar (3-1). The Kats opened the SLC season losing in five sets at Lamar. SHSU was picked to finish fourth out of 13 teams in the conference according to both the preseason coaches and SID polls.
Sam Houston State boasts one of the best offensive combinations in the conference in senior outside hitter Deveney Wells-Gibson and sophomore setter Michelle Griffith. Wells-Gibson, a three-time SLC Offensive Player of the Week honoree this year, leads the conference in total kills (357) and kills per set (4.76) in 75 sets this season and Griffith ranks first in assists per set (10.74) in 77 frames. The Bearkats are also very dangerous from the service line, leading the conference with 2.07 aces per set in SLC play. Wells-Gibson averages 0.52 service aces per set herself – the best average in the conference. Defensively, SHSU is first in the league in opponent hitting percentage (.144) in conference matches. Sophomore libero Claire Kilpatrick leads the stingy defense with 318 digs this year and is the reigning SLC Defensive Player of the Week.
• SFA vs. Lamar – SFA holds a slim 25-20 advantage in the all-time series against Lamar. The Ladyjacks have won three straight in the series, including a 3-1 (25-20, 25-21, 22-25, 25-20) victory in 2013 at home.
• Scouting Lamar – Lamar will travel to play Northwestern State on Thursday night before making the trip to Nacogdoches on Saturday. The squad currently sits in a tie for eighth in the conference standings with a 3-4 record and are 3-16 overall on the year. The Lady Cardinals went 0-12 over a tough non-conference slate to begin the year, before picking up their first win against Sam Houston State (3-2) at home on Sept. 27. Since then, they have earned two more SLC wins against Abilene Christian (3-2) and Incarnate Word (3-0). Most recently, Lamar fell in three at Central Arkansas.
Lamar’s biggest strength begins at the net with the SLC block leader Chelsea Grant. The 6-2 redshirt sophomore averages 1.69 blocks per set in conference action and has had a hand in 95 total blocks in 72 sets this season. As a team, the Lady Cardinals rank first with 2.91 blocks per set over their first seven SLC matches. Senior Erika Rojas has a team-high 200 digs to support Grant defensively. Sophomore Autumn Taylor and junior Cortney Moore provide a one-two punch for Lamar on the other side of the ball, totaling 223 kills and 233 kills respectively. Sophomore Ashley Ellis handles the setting duties and has 726 assists on the year.
• Up Next – Following the Lamar match on Saturday, SFA will get a few days to recover before facing the defending champions from Central Arkansas on Saturday, Nov. 1 at 1:00 p.m. in Shelton Gym. The match will mark the end of the 2014 home season for the Ladyjacks as they are on the road for the final four matches of the regular season. The conference tournament is set for Nov. 21-23 in Natchitoches, La.
• Record-Breaking Start – The Ladyjacks’ impressive 9-0 start to the Southland Conference regular season, and the fashion in which they’ve won, have had historical implications for the university. SFA hasn’t started 9-0 in a conference season since running the table (16-0) in 2006 – a year in which Debbie Humphrey’s team also won an NCAA Tournament match. The Ladyjacks have won eighth of their nine conference matches in straight sets this year and are 27-1 in SLC sets played overall – the best set start in the conference in program history.
• Into the Top Ten – With nine kills on Saturday, Oct. 18 against New Orleans, senior Jill Ivy passed MC Bottles (2008-11) for 10th on SFA’s all-time career kills list. The outside hitter currently has 289 kills so far in 2014 and sits at 1,270 over her four-year career – 30 kills shy of Traci Rohde (2004-07) for ninth all-time.
• History for Holland – With her second assist against Houston Baptist on Oct. 11, senior Paige Holland became just the fifth player in SFA history to reach 4,000 career assists. Entering the match with 3,998 career assists, it didn’t take long for Holland to surpass the milestone mark. The setter dished one up to Jill Ivy early in the first set, who proceeded to complete the kill. Since reaching the mark, Holland has recorded 137 more assists over four matches and currently ranks fifth all-time with 4,137 assists over her four years in the program. The Ladyjacks are first in the Southland Conference with 12.81 assists per set over the team’s first 80 sets in 2014 and Holland is second with 11.86 assists per set in conference matches.
• Efficient Attack – The Ladyjacks continue to be efficient in the attack and rank among the best in the SLC in nearly every offensive category. The squad posted a hitting percentage of .375 and committed just 20 attack errors across two matches last week. Sophomore Justice Walker, the Ladyjacks’ hottest hitter over the last two weeks, was a big reason for the success. The Fort Worth native compiled 23 kills with a .559 attack percentage combined against SLU and UNO for the week and has posted double-digit kills in four of the last five matches. Walker notched 12 kills and swung at a staggering .688 clip against New Orleans on Saturday. The Ladyjacks rank first in the conference in hitting percentage (.297), assists per set (14.25) and kills per set (15.11) over the first four and a half weeks of SLC action.
• Olson Honored – Stephen F. Austin junior libero OJ Olson has been named the Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Week two times this season, most recently for the week beginning on Sept. 22. The SFA libero compiled 42 digs over six sets during the week, averaging 7.00 digs per set to help the Ladyjacks defeat Nicholls State (3-0) and McNeese State (3-0) and start 2-0 in the conference. She helped SFA limit the two conference foes to a combined .129 attack percentage over the period. Olson is first in the SLC in digs (414) and ranks second in digs per set (5.18) this season. Her digs per set average is good enough to rank 22nd in the nation among all Division 1 players. Olson was also recognized for her defensive play during the week of Sept. 8-14 during which time she was named the Louisiana Tech Invitational MVP.
• All-Tournament Team Recognition – Senior Jill Ivy was named to the All-Rice Invitational Team after a terrific tournament on Sept. 19-20. The outside hitter compiled 36 kills on a .257 attack percentage, dug up 22 balls and dropped in three service aces across SFA’s three matches. The all-tournament honor was Ivy’s second of the season.
• Tournament Champs – The Ladyjacks swept matches against New Orleans (3-0), Texas-Pan American (3-1) and host Louisiana Tech (3-1) at the 2014 Louisiana Tech Fairfield Inn Volleyball Invitational on Sept. 12-13. SFA won nine of 11 sets in the two-day tournament to claim their first team championship of the year.
• Ivy’s 1,000 – Senior outside hitter Jill Ivy became the most recent Ladyjack to go over 1,000 kills, breaking into the four-digit mark against Tennessee State (Aug. 30) in the Arkansas Invitational. Ivy, who entered her final SFA campaign with 981 kills, has recorded 289 through 23 matches this season to bring her career total to 1,270.
• Tabbed Fifth in SLC – SFA was picked to finish fifth in the Southland Conference in polls conducted by the league’s coaches and sports information directors, the conference office announced Thursday, Aug. 21. The Ladyjacks earned 103 votes in the SID poll and 99 points in the coaches poll.
• Preseason All-SLC – The Ladyjacks placed juniors Jill Ivy and OJ Olson on the preseason all-conference first team, the Southland Conference office announced Wednesday, Aug. 20. Both Ivy and Olson were second-team all-conference selections last season for SFA.
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