SFA Slated to Repeat as SLC Champions
8/5/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
SLC Preseason All-Conference Release
SLC Preseason Team Polls Release
FRISCO, Texas – The Stephen F. Austin women’s volleyball team has been picked as the favorite to win the 2015 Southland Conference regular season title in polls conducted by the league’s coaches and sports information directors, the conference office announced Wednesday afternoon.
The Ladyjacks also placed four student-athletes on the preseason all-conference teams, with senior Jacque Allen, junior Justice Walker and senior OJ Olson being selected to the first team and senior Tori Bates landing a spot on the second team. The four picks were the most by any team in the league.
In both the coaches and the SID polls, the Ladyjacks received 11 of 12 possible first place votes and 143 total points as overwhelming favorites for the 2015 season. A total of 24 points separated SFA from second place Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (119 points) in the coaches poll while Central Arkansas’ 130 points placed second among SID voters.
SFA had one of the best seasons in program history in 2014, earning its eighth SLC regular season crown with a perfect 16-0 record in league play. The Ladyjacks swept 13 of their 16 conference matches during the regular season and posted an impressive 48-4 record in sets played overall.
SFA returns several key components of that 2014 squad to the 2015 roster. Highlighting that list are 2014 All-Conference selections Allen (first team), Walker (first team) and Olson (second team) along with SFA’s most experienced returning outside hitter in Bates.
Allen and Walker turned into the most dominant middle blocker duo in the league last year and are two of the best players in the conference returning for the 2015 season. Allen and Walker finished first and second in hitting percentage during SLC play last year, posting marks of .427 and .385, respectively. Allen also finished the year ranked third in blocks per set (1.25) while Walker was sixth, rejecting 1.12 balls per set in league action.
The lethal middle blocker tandem has already made its mark on the SFA record book. Allen currently ranks third all-time in program history in blocks per set (1.18) and is fifth in solo blocks (63). Walker has been efficient in the attack over her first two seasons in purple and white, currently ranking fifth all-time in SFA history with a .295 career attack percentage.
Olson cemented her place as one of the best defensive specialists in the conference and in the nation in 2014 after ending the year ranked 19th in all of NCAA Division I volleyball in digs per set (5.27) and 31st in total digs (585). Entering her senior campaign, Olson sits third all-time in SFA history in digs per set (4.22) and is seventh in total digs (1,476).
Bates helped SFA boast one of the best offensive attacks in the league last year with 183 kills and a .187 hitting percentage. In 28 matches, she averaged 2.01 kills per set while chipping in 18 service aces and 52 total blocks. Bates, Allen and Walker alone accounted for over 45 percent of SFA’s total kills from a year ago and will create difficult matchups for opposing teams all season long.
The 2015 season officially kicks off when the Ladyjacks head to Auburn on August 28 to take part in the Auburn Tournament. The home opener will be on September 4 as the Ladyjacks host Northeastern in the first match of the SFA Invitational inside Shelton Gym. Southland Conference play is set to begin on September 24 when Nicholls comes to Nacogdoches for a 6:30 p.m. match.
-SFA-
2015 Southland Conference Volleyball Preseason Polls
Coaches Poll
| Rank | School (1st Place Votes) | Points |
| 1 | Stephen F. Austin (11) | 143 |
| 2 | Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (2) | 119 |
| 3 | Central Arkansas | 118 |
| 4 | Houston Baptist | 110 |
| 5 | Northwestern State | 102 |
| 6 | Sam Houston State | 93 |
| 7 | Southeastern Louisiana | 68 |
| 8 | Lamar | 61 |
| T9 | McNeese State | 51 |
| T9 | Incarnate Word | 51 |
| 11 | Nicholls | 49 |
| 12 | Abilene Christian | 37 |
| 13 | New Orleans | 12 |
SID Poll
| Rank | School (1st Place Votes) | Points |
| 1 | Stephen F. Austin (11) | 143 |
| 2 | Central Arkansas | 130 |
| 3 | Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (2) | 114 |
| 4 | Sam Houston State | 106 |
| 5 | Houston Baptist | 100 |
| 6 | Northwestern State | 96 |
| 7 | Southeastern Louisiana | 73 |
| 8 | Lamar | 59 |
| 9 | Nicholls | 54 |
| 10 | Incarnate Word | 49 |
| 11 | McNeese State | 43 |
| 12 | Abilene Christian | 35 |
| 13 | New Orleans | 12 |
