Humphreys Announces 2015 Schedule
6/4/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
NACOGDOCHES, Texas- Stephen F. Austin head volleyball coach Debbie Humphreys has announced the team's schedule for the 2015 season. The Ladyjacks will face off against two teams that qualified for the 2014 NCAA Tournament and finish the season with four straight conference matches at home.
"Our non-conference schedule will give us a true test" said Humphreys, "The high-quality competition we will see at our tournaments will make sure we have seen everything in preseason that we could potentially see in Southland Conference play."
SFA will open the season with a tournament hosted by Auburn August 28-29. The Ladyjacks will start the event with the host Tigers before taking on Samford, which qualified for the NCAA Tournament a year ago, and Jacksonville the following day.
The `Jacks will play their home opener on September 4th against Northeastern as a part of the SFA Invitational. Texas Tech, South Dakota State and Columbia will also travel to Nacogdoches to participate in the tournament.
The middle of September finds eight consecutive matches away from Shelton Gym, including a pair of tournaments at Tulsa and Baylor. The road swing begins September 7th at Louisiana-Monroe with a quick turnaround to the Tulsa Tournament September 11-12. The Ladyjacks will look to take down Southern Illinois, Arkansas State and the host Golden Hurricanes at the event.
Following a brief detour to Denton for a September 16th matchup with North Texas, SFA closes the main portion of its non-conference schedule at the Baylor Tournament September 18-19. Rice and UNC Greensboro will also be in attendance.
SFA opens Southland Conference play with a pair of home matches versus Nicholls (Sept. 24) and McNeese State (Sept. 26) before hosting Prairie View A&M in its second-to-last non-conference match September 29. Resuming SLC competition, the `Jacks travel to Incarnate Word and Abilene Christian October 1st and 3rd, respectively.
Returning to Shelton October 8-10, SFA will look to pick up a pair of victories against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Houston Baptist before hitting the road for a five-match trip at Northwestern State, Southeastern Louisiana, New Orleans, Sam Houston State and Lamar.
In its final non-league contest of the year, SFA hosts Grambling State October 28 before traveling to Central Arkansas for its last away contest of the season.
The Ladyjacks close the 2015 campaign with home matches against Lamar (Nov. 3), Northwestern State (Nov. 7), Abilene Christian (Nov. 12), and Incarnate Word (Nov. 14) before heading to the SLC Tournament November 20-22 in Conway, Arkansas.
"Every team is different, has its own personality, strengths and weaknesses. I'm excited to see this team develop its own identity," Humphreys said. "That's what makes the season exciting, seeing how they handle each situation they are faced with. We have a great group of leaders coming back, and if they do the job the way it needs to be done we can be very successful."
SFA finished 24-8 overall and a perfect 16-0 in conference play in 2014; and, the Ladyjacks return nine letterwinners including All-Southland selections Jacque Allen, OJ Olson and Justice Walker.
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