Ladyjacks Travel To Houston For Rice Invitational II
9/18/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Game 12: Stephen F. Austin (6-5) vs. Louisville RV (5-4)
Friday, Sept. 19 (12:30 p.m.) - Tudor Fieldhouse (Houston, Texas)
• Live Stats | SFA VolleyBlog
Game 13: Stephen F. Austin (6-5) vs. Texas Southern (1-9)
Friday, Sept. 19 (5 p.m.) - Tudor Fieldhouse (Houston, Texas)
• Live Stats | SFA VolleyBlog
Game 14: Stephen F. Austin (6-5) vs. Rice (8-3)
Saturday, Sept. 20 (4 p.m.) - Tudor Fieldhouse (Houston, Texas)
• Live Stats | OwlVision All-Access | SFA VolleyBlog
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin women's volleyball team will travel to Houston on Friday to begin play in the Rice Invitational II. The Ladyjacks, who won the 2014 Louisiana Tech Invitational last weekend, take a four-match winning streak into the event.
SFA will play Louisville, Texas Southern and host Rice over the two-day tournament, beginning Friday at 12:30 p.m. in Tudor Fieldhouse.
NOTES:
• SFA vs. Louisville - The Ladyjacks and the Cardinals will meet for the first time when they play on Friday afternoon.
• Scouting Louisville - The Cardinals, who have been ranked as high as 24th in the polls this season, head into Friday afternoon's match still receiving votes in the AVCA Coaches Poll. In their first season as part of the ACC, Louisville enters the Rice Invitational with a record of 5-4 overall. The squad has defeated two top-25 ranked programs in 2014 - No. 15 Arizona State and No. 12 Minnesota. The Cardinals are led by Preseason All-ACC selections Katie George and Janelle Jenkins. Through nine matches, George has 342 assists and 89 digs while Jenkins has converted 91 kills on a .327 attack percentage.
• SFA vs. Texas Southern - Friday evening's matchup between SFA and TSU will be the 12th meeting between the two schools. The Ladyjacks enjoy a 10-1 advantage over the first 11 contests, but haven't played a match in the series since 1997. SFA defeated the Lady Tigers 3-0 on September 20th that year.
• Scouting Texas Southern - The Lady Tigers enter the tournament with a 1-9 record on the season, having already played three other members of the Southland Conference. TSU opened the season with a 3-1 loss to New Orleans (8/29) in the Texas Southern University Invitational and has also dropped matches in straight sets against SLC opponents McNeese State (9/9) and Houston Baptist (9/12). Their only win on the year came in their home tournament against Prairie View A&M (8/30). Most recently, the Lady Tigers participated in the University of Texas-Arlington Tournament from September 12-13, dropping all three matches played.
• SFA vs. Rice - The Ladyjacks and the Owls will meet for the 20th time on Saturday afternoon with SFA holding a 10-9 edge in the series. The last meeting between the two schools came on September 17, 2011 when Rice swept Stephen F. Austin in three sets. The Ladyjacks' last victory over the Conference USA foe came in 2007 - a five-set decision on September 15.
• Scouting Rice - The Owls enter their own tournament with an 8-3 record on the season and are riding a six-match winning streak. Rice won the Marquette Tournament last weekend, defeating Green Bay (3-0), No. 26 Marquette (3-1) and James Madison (3-1) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Owls are led by a pair of redshirt sophomores: outside hitter Leah Mikesky leads the team with 147 kills over 42 sets played while Sara Blasier distributes the attack with 452 assists on the year. Senior Jillian Humphrey is the presence at the net, recording 43 total blocks through the first 11 matches and senior Daniela Arenas captains the backline with 162 digs.
• Up Next - The Rice Invitational marks the end of regular season non-conference play for Stephen F. Austin. Following the tournament, the Ladyjacks will open the 2014 Southland Conference season at Nicholls State on Thursday, Sept. 25, in Thibodeaux, Louisiana. SFA returns to Shelton Gym on Thursday, Oct. 2 to host Incarnate Word. First serve is set for 6:30 p.m. in that contest.
• Tournament Champs - The Ladyjacks are coming off a three-game sweep of New Orleans, Texas-Pan American and host Louisiana Tech, at the 2014 Louisiana Tech Fairfield Inn Volleyball Invitational last weekend. SFA won nine of 11 sets in the two-day tournament to claim their first team championship of the year. Libero OJ Olson was named tournament MVP, along with middle blocker Justice Walker and defensive specialist Madison Martin being named to the all-tournament team at the conclusion of tournament play.
• Olson Honored - Stephen F. Austin junior libero OJ Olson was named the Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Week for the period of September 8-14. The honor is the first of the season for Olson and comes on the heels of a 4-0 week for SFA. Olson captained the Ladyjack backline, racking up 93 digs across 16 sets during the span. The native of Cedar Park, Texas, played a pivotal role in a comeback win over Louisiana-Monroe (3-2) on September 10th before helping SFA down New Orleans (3-0), Texas-Pan American (3-1) and Louisiana Tech (3-1) as a part of the Louisiana Tech Invitational over the weekend. Olson was honored as the tournament MVP for her efforts.
• 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 141 through 11 matches this season to bring her career total to 1,122. She currently needs 134 kills to move into the top ten on SFA's all-time career kills list.
• 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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