SFA Heads to Natchitoches for SLC Tournament
11/20/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Southland Conference Volleyball Tournament
Bracket | Directions
Match 31: (1) Stephen F. Austin (23-7, 16-0 SLC) vs. (8) Nicholls State (10-19, 6-10 SLC)
Friday, Nov. 21 (4:00 p.m.) - Prather Coliseum (Natchitoches, La.)
• Live Stats | Video | SFAVolleyblog (Radio)
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin women's volleyball team, after closing the regular season undefeated in Southland Conference play, looks to improve on the nation's fifth-longest active win streak at the SLC Tournament on the Northwestern State campus this Friday. The top-seeded Ladyjacks will play eighth-seeded Nicholls State at 4:00 p.m. inside Prather Coliseum for their quarterfinal match.
The Ladyjacks picked up two more conference sweeps last week on the road against Abilene Christian and Incarnate Word to finish their conference slate with a perfect 16-0 record. The last time SFA went through a conference regular season unscathed was in 2006 when the Ladyjacks posted a 16-0 record, won the conference tournament and beat Alabama in the first round of the NCAA Championships. SFA hasn't won a tournament title or advanced to the NCAA tournament since.
The team's current conference winning streak is second in the nation to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (19-0). The Ladyjacks are tied with Wisconsin and Florida for the fifth-longest active winning streak in NCAA Division I volleyball at 16 consecutive matches overall.
SFA also tied the all-time program record set in 2007 by earning sweeps in 13 of its 16 conference wins this season. The Ladyjacks boasted a 48-4 record in sets played in SLC action.
After winning the 2014 SLC regular season title, the first since sharing with Lamar in 2007, head coach Debbie Humphrey's team now has eight such championships to go with their four tournament titles - both the most among current members in the Southland.
The Ladyjacks, who exited after a first-round loss as the eight seed in last year's tournament, reversed their seeding this season and will play the number eight seed in the opening round of this year's tournament. With a win, the squad will play the winner of the No. 4 Sam Houston State/No. 5 Northwestern State match in the semifinals on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. The SLC Tournament Championship match will be held on Sunday, Nov. 23, at 2:05 p.m. with the winner earning the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The first two rounds will be broadcasted on the Southland Conference Digital Network, while the championship match will streamed on ESPN3.
NOTES:
• SFA vs. Nicholls State - Friday afternoon's tournament match between SFA and Nicholls State will be the 43rd meeting between the two schools. The Ladyjacks enjoy a 37-5 advantage over the first 42 contests and have won five straight in the series. Earlier this year, Stephen F. Austin defeated Nicholls 3-0 in the SLC opener at home (25-16, 25-18, 25-21) on Sept. 25. Junior Jacque Allen had a match-high 15 kills on .448 hitting to lead the Ladyjacks in the match.
• Scouting Nicholls State - The Colonels come into the tournament with a 10-19 record overall and a 6-10 mark in league play. They swept McNeese State 3-0 in the final match of the year to secure the final spot in the tournament. Their signature win of the SLC season came on Sept. 27 when they defeated Northwestern State in straight sets at home.
Nicholls is led by senior libero Kalynn Egea, who currently leads the conference with 581 digs over the entire season and ranks third in the nation with 5.75 digs per set. She was an honorable mention All-SLC selection earlier this week. Redshirt sophomore Kaci Eaton paces the offensive attack with 247 kills over 16 SLC matches - good enough for third-best in the league. The outside hitter was named to the All-SLC second team for her efforts. Sophomore Ainsley Marroccoli has a team-high 617 assists on the year.
• SFA vs. SLC Tournament Field - The Ladyjacks are 8-0 against the SLC Tournament field (Central Arkansas, Southeastern Louisiana, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Houston Baptist, Nicholls, Sam Houston State and Northwestern State) after completing a perfect run through conference play for the third time in program history. SFA went 24-4 in sets played against the opponents in the field, dropping one set to Corpus Christi and Northwestern State and two sets to Sam Houston State. The Bearkats were the only team to take the Ladyjacks to five sets in the regular season.
SFA's 2014 Matches vs. Tournament Field:
• vs. NICH - W, 3-0
• at AMCC - W, 3-1
• at HBU - W, 3-0
• vs. SLU - W, 3-0
• vs. NWLA - W, 3-0
• vs. SHSU - W, 3-2
• vs. UCA - W, 3-0
• at NWLA - W, 3-1
• Ladyjacks Grab Two SLC Invividual Honors - Stephen F. Austin senior Paige Holland was named the 2014 Southland Conference Volleyball Setter of the Year and head coach Debbie Humphreys was named the Katrinka Jo Crawford Coach of the Year, the league office announced Wednesday in conjunction with the all-conference teams. Holland ranked second with 11.60 assists per set during the SLC regular season, helping SFA finish first in team hitting percentage (.278), assists per set (13.60) and kills per set (14.33). Holland's Setter of the Year honor is the first for SFA since JJ Jones won the award in back-to-back seasons in 2005 and 2006. Humphreys' Coach of the Year award is her fifth such honor and comes on the heels of her eighth SLC Championship and 18th 20-win season at SFA.
• SFA Places Five on All-SLC Teams - The Ladyjacks led all Southland members, placing five on the all-conference teams in 2014. The four first team selections are the most in program history.
First Team:
Jill Ivy (Sr., OH)
Paige Holland (Sr., S)
Jacque Allen (Jr., MB)
Justice Walker (So., MB)
Second Team:
OJ Olson (Jr., L)
• Looking Ahead - If the Ladyjacks win their opening round match against Nicholls, 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. The winner will earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
• Return to the Top - The Ladyjacks 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 20-7 two weeks ago. She is currently five 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 (546) and digs per set (5.25) this season. Her digs per set average is good enough to rank 18th 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 368 kills so far in 2014 and sits at 1,349 over her four-year career - 24 kills shy of passing Aubrey Duncan (1991-94) for eighth all-time.
• Record-Breaking Start - The Ladyjacks' impressive 16-0 mark in the Southland Conference regular season, and the fashion in which they've won, have had historical implications for the university. SFA hasn't gone through a conference season with an unblemished record since running the table (16-0) in 2006 - a year in which Debbie Humphrey's team also won an NCAA tournament match. The Ladyjacks won 13 of their 16 conference matches in straight sets this year and are 48-4 in SLC sets played overall - the best set mark in the conference in program history. The 16-match winning streak is the fifth-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 1,017 assists overall this season and currently ranks fifth all-time with 4,408 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 104 sets in 2014 and Holland is second with 11.60 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 league's most efficient hitters, are a big reason for the success. Walker has hit at least .375 in nine of the last 12 matches. The Fort Worth native notched 12 kills and swung at a staggering .688 clip against New Orleans on Saturday, Oct. 18 to claim the second best single-match hitting percentage in the conference this year. Allen, who is hitting .427 in SLC matches, is the most efficient hitter in the conference over the entire season. She is hitting .347 over the entire year with Walker in second at .341. The Ladyjacks rank first in the Southland in hitting percentage (.278), assists per set (13.60) and kills per set (14.33) in SLC matches.
• 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 368 through 30 matches this season to bring her career total to 1,349.
• 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.
• Follow SFA on social media - Not following SFA athletics? Sign up or sign in now and like and follow to find out what's happening. You'll stay up-to-date on the latest news and receive live in-game updates at each and every match. Fans can follow the exploits of all 17 varsity sports, by following @SFA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram or by liking the official Facebook page. Each sport also has a twitter account dedicated to that team. Fans can follow @SFA_Volleyball on Twitter or like the Ladyjacks' official Facebook page.
-SFA-
