SFA Faces Sam Houston State & Lamar on the Road
10/21/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Stephen F. Austin (14-11, 6-3 Southland) at Sam Houston State (10-12, 4-4 Southland)
Thursday, Oct. 22 • 6:30 p.m.
Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum • Huntsville, Texas
Live Stats • Live Audio (Greg Miller/SFAVolleyblog.net)
Stephen F. Austin (14-11, 6-3 Southland) at Lamar (13-8, 3-4 Southland)
Saturday, Oct. 24 • 2:00 p.m.
McDonald Gymnasium • Beaumont, Texas
Live Stats • Live Audio (Greg Miller/SFAVolleyblog.net)
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – With the end of its Southland Conference regular season road schedule in sight, the Stephen F. Austin volleyball team is set up to complete a string of five straight league matches away from Shelton Gym when the Ladyjacks take on Sam Houston State and Lamar this week.
Alone in third place in the league standings, SFA enters enemy territory looking to remain ahead of six teams below them which are separated by just half a match. The Ladyjacks' opponents this week, though, will be looking to turn the tables on the road-weary squad in order to climb up the league standing themselves with the conference postseason tournament less than a month away.
Live stats will be available for both matches and Greg Miller will tag along with the Ladyjacks to provide live play-by-play of the bouts on SFAVolleyblog.net.
SFA vs. Sam Houston State: One of SFA’s longest standing rivalries is the one between it and Bearkats. Since the two teams began meeting on an annual basis in 1984, SFA owns a 32-18 advantage in the all-time series. The Bearkats, though, have done a fine job of protecting their home court in recent years. The Ladyjacks head to Huntsville in search of their first win at the Bearkats’ residence since 2007.
Scouting Sam Houston State: If the Bearkats want to separate themselves from the group of three teams that are knotted at 4-4 and tied for sixth-place in the Southland Conference standings, they must rely heavily on the sophomore outside hitting tandem of Jordyn Vaughn and Brooke White. Comprising exactly one-fifth of the top-10 kill-producers in the 13-team league, Vaughn and White average 3.44 and 3.21 terminations per set respectively and are a big reason why the Bearkats rank third in the league in kills per set (11.71). Not just a two-woman show on offense, Sam Houston State possesses a pair of freshmen – Taylor Cunningham and Madison Wallace – who play a significant role by hammering down 2.18 and 2.12 kills per set apiece. The powerful offensive arsenal helped offset a blocks per set average of 1.29 that represents the lowest figure in the Southland Conference in that statistical category. Senior setter Michelle Griffith is the holder of the job of distributing balls to SHSU’s potent outside attack and she piles up assists at a rate of 10.28 per set – the second-highest average among SLC student-athletes. At the onset of their conference schedule, SHSU could do no wrong as is raced out to a 3-0 record, but the Bearkats have lost their footing in the win-loss column as of late having dropped four of their last five against league adversaries. Three of those losses have come in five sets and the Bearkats are just 1-6 in matches of that configuration.
Humphreys on Sam Houston State: “Any time it’s SFA and Sam Houston State, no matter what the sport, it’s going to be a battle and that’s what we’re expecting on Thursday night. It’s not going to be easy to walk into a hostile environment like that, but we’re going to be extremely aggressive on our side, lay it all out there and see what happens. We have to make sure we’re the aggressors, generate kills and step it up on the defensive side of the ball.”
SFA vs. Lamar: Saturday’s bout in Beaumont will be the latest entry in a series that has been controlled by the Ladyjacks since 2000. The owner of a 27-20 edge in the all-time series between the two institutions, SFA has amassed a mark of 18-8 against the Cardinals since the 21st century commenced.
Scouting Lamar: Of paramount importance in each scouting report generated by opponents of Lamar University is figuring out a way to try and negate the all-around game of Chelsea Grant. A 6-2 junior, Grant’s numbers are among the nation’s best and are one of the primary reasons why the Cardinals have racked up a 9-1 record at home in 2015. Among all NCAA Division I volleyball players, Grant ranks 12th in total blocks (105), 33rd in blocks per set (1.33) and 38th in hitting percentage (.390). No individual in the Southland Conference holds a higher hitting percentage of blocks per set average than Grant who averages 2.82 kills per set. Teaming up with Grant in the middle of the net is senior Cortney Moore and the pair combine to anchor one of the most dominating front rows in the SLC. Moore, who stands at 5-11, is the conference’s fourth-most efficient attacker, pounding down kills at a clip of .366 and averaging 2.77 per set. As a team, the Cardinals’ attack percentage of .239 and blocks per set average of 2.27 both rank second in the 13-team SLC.
Humphreys on Lamar: “Lamar is a team that has middle hitters and blockers who are just as dynamic as ours. We’re very strong in the middle, that’s no secret. Everybody knows we want to get our middles the ball and Lamar wants to do exactly the same thing. They’re ridiculous athletes with extremely high jump touches, so for us it becomes figuring out how to keep them out of system as much as possible so they can’t get those girls involved. They run a nice tempo to the left side as well. They’ve got some good things going on and we certainly have our work cut out for us.”
Last Time Out: Bedeviled early in a three-match Louisiana road swing by a fluctuating lineup, SFA plugged in the right pieces on Saturday afternoon in New Orleans and put an end to its two-match league skid by posting a 3-1 triumph over the Privateers. Three players – led by senior Jacque Allen – registered 13 or more kills in the match. Makenzee Hanna and Justice Walker each notched 13 while Allen struck for a match-best 15. With the victory, SFA elevated itself into sole possession of third place in the Southland Conference standings.
2K for OJ: Just two Stephen F. Austin volleyball players have amassed 2,000 or more digs in a career, and senior OJ Olson is poised to become the third. Her career total currently stands at 1,971 digs, meaning the Cedar Park, Texas product needs 29 more to hit the 2K mark. In the national statistical rankings, very few NCAA Division I volleyball players have put up the kind of numbers the Ladyjacks’ back row leader has. Olson ranks 13th in the nation in digs per set (5.21) and second in total digs (495).
Slow Start, Strong Finish: In Southland Conference matches, SFA has needed to rely on strong performances in the later sets in order to pick up victories. The Ladyjacks have posted a 4-5 record in first sets of league tilts this season, but in SLC bouts that extend to four or more sets SFA’s record is 5-2.
Mak Attack: One of the new additions to the Ladyjacks’ lineup as of late, freshman Makenzee Hanna has submitted some good numbers over the last two matches. In Saturday’s win over New Orleans, the product of DeSoto, Texas reset her career high by knocking down 13 kills. Over the past two matches, Hanna has piled up 24 terminations and is hitting .333.
Caught in the Middle: Thanks to the offensive play of senior middle blocker Jacque Allen and junior middle blocker Justice Walker, the Ladyjacks are one of three Southland Conference teams who have two players ranked in the top ten in hitting percentage. Allen is connecting on kills at a rate of .319 (fifth-highest in the league) while Walker’s clip of .239 ranks 10th in the 13-team league. Walker leads the Ladyjacks in kills per set (2.63) and Allen ranks second (2.49) through 25 matches.
Back-to-Back?: The Southland Conference prognosticators – that is to say the coaches and sports information directors throughout the 13-team league – collectively envisioned a 2015 Southland Conference regular season title in the Ladyjacks’ future. In the preseason polls, which were released on Aug. 5, the defending conference champions received 11 of 12 first place votes and 143 total points.
The 600 Club: The architect of the Ladyjacks’ success, Debbie Humphreys is in the midst of her 28th season as SFA’s head coach and earlier in 2015 she reached a coaching benchmark which few in the NCAA can claim to have reached. With a 3-0 triumph over Columbia in Shelton Gym on Saturday, Sept. 5, Humphreys secured her 600th career coaching victory. Currently, Humphreys is the 19th-winningiest active coach at the NCAA Division I level with a record of 610-314 (.660).
Stacking Up in the Southland: Below is how the Ladyjacks rank statistically in various categories among the 13-team conference:
Hitting Percentage - .201 (5th)
Opponent Hitting Percentage - .203 (6th)
Assists – 11.49 (4th)
Kills/Set – 12.15 (4th)
Blocks/Set – 1.98 (5th)
Service Aces/Set – 0.97 (13th)
Digs/Set – 16.33 (2nd)
Looking Ahead: Once they reach the endpoint of their five-match Southland Conference road trip on Saturday afternoon in Beaumont, the Ladyjacks will return to Shelton Gym for the first time in nearly three weeks. Entering SFA’s home court to oppose the Ladyjacks is the final non-conference team on their 2015 regular season schedule in Grambling State. SFA’s second 2015 battle with a representative from the SWAC will begin at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 28.
-SFA-
