SFA Wraps Up Regular Season on the Road
11/13/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Match 29: Stephen F. Austin (21-7, 14-0 SLC) at Abilene Christian (6-22, 4-10 SLC)
Thursday, Nov. 13 (7:00 p.m.) - Moody Coliseum (Abilene, Texas)
• Live Stats | Video
Match 30: Stephen F. Austin (21-7, 14-0 SLC) at Incarnate Word (10-18, 6-8 SLC)
Saturday, Nov. 15 (2:00 p.m.) - McDermott Center (San Antonio, Texas)
• Live Stats | Video
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin women's volleyball team, the 2014 outright champion of the Southland Conference, is just two wins away from league perfection. In the final week of the regular season, the Ladyjacks will travel to play Abilene Christian on Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. and turnaround to take on Incarnate Word on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. With a perfect 14-0 conference record with two matches remaining, SFA is looking for its first undefeated conference season since 2006 when the program went 16-0.
The Ladyjacks notched two more conference victories last week on the road against Lamar (3-0) and Northwestern State (3-1) to secure a share of the league title. When preseason favorite and reigning champion Central Arkansas stumbled against Houston Baptist on Tuesday, the championship belonged to SFA outright.
"We did some things really well last week but we didn't have didn't have all of the pieces playing at super high level and we have to get back to that this week," said head coach Debbie Humphreys. "Abilene and Incarnate Word are very good. We know how much of a challenge they were when they were here. They're taking a lot of teams to five sets, it's on their home court and they're just going to lay it all out there and give us a run. In preparation for the tournament it's important for us to be playing our best volleyball of the season right now."
SFA swept both Abilene Christian and Incarnate Word in Shelton Gym earlier this season.
The Ladyjacks' 14-match winning streak is the seventh-longest active streak in the country among 334 Division I programs. SFA is 21-7 overall, and 19-2 over its last 21 matches dating back to Sept. 10.
NOTES:
• SFA vs. Abilene Christian - The Ladyjacks and the Wildcats will continue a young series on Thursday in just the third meeting of the two programs. SFA swept ACU on Oct. 4 (29-27, 25-16, 25-18) in the Wildcats' first trip to Shelton Gym. The Ladyjacks also won 3-1 (25-21, 15-25, 25-13, 25-19) last year in Abilene on Nov. 2.
• Scouting Abilene Christian - The Wildcats, who are currently 6-22 overall, 4-10 in the SLC, are coming off two straight victories over McNeese State and Nicholls State last week. ACU dropped eight straight matches to open the season before earning its first win against Jackson State on Sept. 13. The team has had six, five-set losses in the SLC this year, including losses to conference powers Central Arkansas and Northwestern State. Abilene is led by a trio of dynamic players: junior Jennifer Loerch paces the attack with 388 kills, junior Sarah Siemens has posted a team-high 713 assists and sophomore Brooke Ray has racked up 266 digs through the Wildcats' first 28 matches. ACU was tabbed 11th of 13 teams in the Southland in both the preseason coaches and SID polls this year.
• SFA vs. Incarnate Word - Saturday afternoon's SLC regular season finale between SFA and Incarnate Word will be just the third meeting between the two schools with the teams splitting the first two decisions. The Ladyjacks swept the Cardinals (25-12, 25-20, 25-18) in UIW's first match in Shelton Gym back on Oct. 2. Last season, SFA lost to the Cardinals in five sets (27-25, 16-25, 27-25, 23-25, 14-16) on Oct. 31 in the only meeting in San Antonio.
• Scouting Incarnate Word - The Cardinals currently hold a 6-8 SLC record and a 10-18 mark overall on the season. UIW will host Northwestern State on Thursday night before entertaining SFA. Incarnate Word has won four straight conference matches, including three in five sets against Abilene Christian, Nicholls State and McNeese State. The UIW offense is led by junior Angelique Vidaurri, who has 328 kills and a .210 attack percentage over 28 matches this year. The Cardinal attack goes though junior setters Kaitlyn Brooks (441 assists) and Taylor McClelland (312 assists) while the defense is anchored by sophomore Claudia Hernandez, who has a team-high 271 digs in 2014. UIW was picked to finish seventh out of 13 teams in the conference according to the preseason coaches poll.
• Up Next - Next up for the Ladyjacks will be the 2014 Southland Conference tournament in Natchitoches, La. from Nov. 21-23. SFA has secured the number one seed in the tournament and will play its first round match against the number eight seed on Friday Nov. 21 at 4:00 p.m. in Prather Coliseum. If they win the opening round match, the squad will get the four/five seed winner on Saturday, Nov. 22 at 1:30 p.m. The championship match is set for Sunday, Nov. 23 at 2:05 p.m. and will be aired on ESPN3.
• Return to the Top - With two SFA wins and another Central Arkansas loss last week, the Ladyjacks have clinched the 2014 Southland Conference regular season title outright for the first time since 2006. It is the program's eighth league title - all coming with head coach Debbie Humphreys at the helm. Humphreys also earned her 18th, 20-win season when the team improved to 21-7 last week. She is just seven victories away from her 600th career win.
• Olson Honored - Stephen F. Austin junior libero OJ Olson has been named the Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Week a league-leading three times this season, most recently for the week beginning on Nov. 3. The SFA libero compiled 45 digs over seven sets during the week, averaging 6.43 digs per set to help the Ladyjacks defeat Lamar (3-0) and Northwestern State (3-1). She notched a match-high 27 digs against NWLA in a defensive battle on Nov. 7 to lead her team to a win and a share of the league title. Olson is second in the SLC in digs (518) and digs per set (5.29) this season. Her digs per set average is good enough to rank 20th in the nation among all Division 1 players. Olson was also recognized for her defensive play on Sept. 15 and Sept. 29.
• Academic All-District - Seniors Paige Holland and Jill Ivy were each named to the Capital One Academic All-District teams, announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) on Nov. 6. Holland (3.97 GPA - early childhood education) was named to the first team, while Ivy (3.70 GPA - kinesiology) picked up second team recognition. As a first team selection, Holland will also be considered and voted on for Academic All-America status - a process that is currently underway.
• Signature Win - The Ladyjacks got a huge win on Saturday, Nov. 1, sweeping conference power Central Arkansas in convincing fashion on Senior Day in Shelton Gym. The win over the reigning conference champions and preseason favorites snapped an 11-match losing streak for SFA against the Sugar Bears dating back to 2007. Jill Ivy produced 13 kills on .417 hitting in the match to lead the Ladyjacks to a .322 hitting percentage in the match. On the other end, SFA limited UCA to a .050 attack efficiency mark - the second-worst hitting percentage for any opposing SLC foe this year. The Sugar Bears rattled off 38 straight victories in conference play over a three-year span that ended one match before they came to face SFA. UCA has won four of the last five conference titles, making the 3-0 thumping by the Ladyjacks all the more impressive.
• Movin' On Up - With 13 kills on Saturday, Nov. 1 against Central Arkansas, senior Jill Ivy passed Traci Rohde (2004-07) for ninth on SFA's all-time career kills list. The outside hitter currently has 346 kills so far in 2014 and sits at 1,327 over her four-year career - 46 kills shy of passing Aubrey Duncan (1991-94) for eighth all-time.
• Record-Breaking Start - The Ladyjacks' impressive 14-0 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 14-0 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 11 of their 14 conference matches in straight sets this year and are 42-4 in SLC sets played overall - the best set start in the conference in program history. The 14-match winning streak is the seventh-longest active streak in the nation at the Division I level.
• Beat the Bearkats - The Ladyjacks pulled off the comeback of the season on Thursday, Oct. 23, roaring back from a two-set deficit to beat rival Sam Houston State 3-2 (21-25, 22-25, 25-16, 25-11, 15-12) in a five-set thriller in Shelton Gym. SFA got a balanced attack on the offensive side of the net with Jacque Allen recording 13 kills, sophomore Justice Walker posting 11 and senior Jill Ivy slamming down 10 winners on the evening. The Ladyjacks tied a season-best with 17 total blocks to complete the comeback. It was the second two-set hole SFA climbed out of this season, as they also knocked off Louisiana-Monroe 3-2 on Sept. 10. The team is 3-0 in five-set contests overall this year.
• Perfect 3-0 Week - The Ladyjacks came out of their busiest conference week of the year unscathed, beating Northwestern State (3-0), Sam Houston State (3-2) and Lamar (3-0) at home from Oct. 21-25. Jacque Allen was lights out and OJ Olson had a huge week on the defensive side of the ball to pace SFA. Allen had a team-high 28 kills on .463 hitting and rejected 18 balls over the three matches while Olson tallied 61 digs, including 28 against SHSU, in the span.
• 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. Holland has 953 assists overall this season and currently ranks fifth all-time with 4,344 assists over her four years in the program. The Ladyjacks are first in the Southland Conference with 12.82 assists per set over the team's first 98 sets in 2014 and Holland is first with 11.72 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. Sophomore Justice Walker and junior Jacque Allen, two of the Ladyjacks' hottest hitters over the last month, are a big reason for the success. Walker has hit at least .375 in nine of the last 10 matches, and is hitting over .430 over the last four matches alone. The Fort Worth native notched 12 kills and swung at a staggering .688 clip against New Orleans on Saturday, Oct. 18 to claim the best single-match hitting percentage in the conference this year. Allen, who is hitting .430 in SLC matches, is the most efficient hitter in the conference over the entire season. She is hitting .343 over the entire year with Walker in second at .342. The Ladyjacks rank first in the Southland in hitting percentage (.284), assists per set (13.70) and kills per set (14.46) over the first seven weeks of SLC action.
• 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 346 through 28 matches this season to bring her career total to 1,327.
• 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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