Ladyjacks Prep for Saturday Showdown with Northwestern State
10/21/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Stephen F. Austin (13-8, 6-2 Southland) vs. Northwestern State (11-14, 6-4 Southland)
Saturday, Oct. 22 | 1:00 p.m. | Shelton Gym | Nacogdoches, Texas
Live Stats | Watch (ESPN3) | Stephen F. Austin Match Notes
THE FIRST SERVE
• Making their final appearance in Shelton Gym in the month of October, the Stephen F. Austin volleyball team (13-8, 6-2 Southland) will attempt to string together back-to-back Southland Conference wins for the first time this month when upstart Northwestern State (11-14, 6-4 Southland) arrives in Nacogdoches, Texas, for a 1:00 p.m. league showdown.
• Since the Ladyjacks and Lady Demons began duking it out on the volleyball court in 1984, SFA has maintained a decisive upper hand in the rivalry. In the 53 all-time meetings between the two programs, the Ladyjacks possess a 48-5 record against their rivals from Natchitoches, La. All five of the Lady Demons wins, however, have occured on or since November 2, 2012.
• One of only three teams that have not dropped a Southland Conference match at home this season, the Ladyjacks remain in second place in the league standings. SFA is a half game ahead of third-place Houston Baptist and one game ahead of the fourth place Lady Demons midway through their 16-match conference schedule.
• The latest entrant into the Ladyjacks’ 1,000-kill club is senior middle blocker Justice Walker. She entered that territory by putting down seven kills in SFA’s 3-0 home triumph over Central Arkansas on Thursday evening in Shelton Gym and has exactly 1,000 kills in her four-year career.
• Meeting number 54 between Stephen F. Austin and Northwestern State will be broadcast nationwide on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app thanks to a partnership between SFA and ESPN that is now in its second year. Greg Miller will be providing play-by-play and analysis for the Soutland Conference match.
SCOUTING NORTHWESTERN STATE | SCHEDULE | ROSTER | STATISTICS
• Record vs. Northwestern State | 48-5
• In Nacogdoches, Texas | 23-1
• In Natchitoches, La. | 20-3
• At neutral sites | 5-1
• Humphreys vs. Northwestern State | 48-5
• After seeing the words Northwestern State slotted firmly in ninth place in both the coaches and SID’s preseason Southland Conference polls, the Lady Demons have been fighting ferociously to dispel the theory that they are a lower-tier squad. Winners of their first three league matches of 2016, NSU is shooting to return to the win column following a pair of hard-fought five-set losses to Southeastern Louisiana and Sam Houston State.
• Spurning the advances of schools in her home state of Texas, Alexis Warren took her talents to the Pelican State and in her first season of collegiate volleyball has been the go-to offensive threat for the Lady Demons. Warren has taken 30.8-percent (1,047) of NSU’s 3,401 attack attempts, resulting in a team-best 3.11 kills per set, albeit on a .090 hitting percentage.
• Three other big-time hitters - Lauren Agan (2.64 kills/set), Kourtney Seaton (2.29 kills/set), and Madeline Drake (2.18 kills/set) - fuel a Northwestern State attack that ranks 11th among the 13 Southland Conference institutions with a hitting percentage of .141.
• While the Lady Demons are not the strongest blocking team in the lead, opponents have had a difficult time putting down kills against NSU thanks to some strong play in the back line. NSU’s foes are hitting at a clip of only .191 and among Southland Conference teams only SFA had produced a better digs per set average than the Lady Demons’ mark of 16.35.
• Serving as the backbone of that rear line is libero Channing Burleson. She has scooped up 456 digs - the most among all Southland Conference competitors - for an average of 4.85 per set.
• Wisconsinite Natalie Jaeger handles serving duties for the Lady Demons by passing out 9.18 assists per frame. A service threat, too, Jaeger ranks eighth among all SLC players with 0.31 aces per frame.
THE LAST TIME OUT
• The one team that has had the Ladyjacks’ number did not enjoy the success they had in the past as SFA racked up 11 blocks while witnessing Central Arkansas commit 22 unforced errors in a 3-0 win by the Ladyjacks in Shelton Gym on Thursday evening.
• Heading into Thursday evening’s tilt with a 4-12 all-time record against the Sugar Bears, the Ladyjacks were not in need of a high-powered offensive performance. Rather, SFA didn’t see one of its players arrive in double-digit territory in kills but good attack placement leading to a .221 attack percentage helped the Ladyjacks grab the win.
• Making her first start of 2016, sophomore Makenzee Hanna put down a team-best eight kills and Justice Walker added seven more to arrive at 1,000 for her career. Walker hit .583 in the three-set win and SFA was aided in a big way by Ann Hollas’ strong all-around play. The freshman racked up her team-leading fifth double-double of the season by way of a 25-assist, 14-dig outing and added career highs in kills (five) and service aces (three)
• All in all, five SFA players tallied at least one service ace in the Ladyjacks’ pressure-oriented serving game. Haley Coleman added a pair of them while Corin Evans, Lexus Cain and Danae Daron put down one each. SFA’s eight service are the second-most by the team in a single match this season.
• Eschewing her usual place at the top of the Ladyjacks’ kill chart, junior Abby McIntyre finished with six block assists - tied for the team high with Walker who also had six. Daron added a solo stuff and four more block assists while Hanna complimented her eight kills with four block assists of her own.
WHAT’S NEXT?
• Beginning the stretch of their final seven Southland Conference matches of the regular season, the Ladyjacks head out on a three-match road trip to the reaches of southeast Texas. That span begins in Beaumont, Texas, on Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. when SFA tangles with Lamar.
-SFA-
