Stephen F. Austin
Northwestern State University
Saturday Skirmish with Northwestern State Next on Ladyjacks' Southland Docket
9/22/2017 12:48:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
One-sided all-time series has SFA leading 50-5
Stephen F. Austin (13-4, 1-0 Southland) vs. Northwestern State (5-10, 1-0 Southland)
Saturday, September 23 | 1:00 p.m. | Shelton Gym (600) | Nacogdoches, Texas
Live Stats | Watch (ESPN3/ESPN app) | SFA Match Notes
• One team - either Stephen F. Austin or Northwestern State - will incur its first Southland Conference loss of 2017 Saturday afternoon inside Shelton Gym when the longtime rivals do battle at 1:00 p.m.
• With a win Saturday, SFA head coach Debbie Humphreys would reach 650 for her career. Should it come to pass, Humphreys would join a group of 14 other active NCAA Division I volleyball coaches from around the nation who have amassed 650 or more triumphs in their respective careers. Additionally, it would be the third milestone win for Humphreys against Northwestern State as SFA's longtime bench boss picked up both the 50th (10/15/91) and 300th (10/12/01) wins of her career against the Lady Demons.
• By virtue of their victory over Central Arkansas Thursday night inside Shelton Gym, the Ladyjacks upped their win total for the month of September to 10. It marks the first time since 2015 that SFA has notched double-digit wins in the month and should the Ladyjacks post triumphs in each of their final two matches in the month they would finish the month with 12. That would be the fourth-most wins in the month of September in program history. SFA accumulated a a program-best 16 wins in September during the 1993 season and went for 14 in 1995, 13 in 2007 and 12 in 1994.
• Dating back to 2012, SFA won each of its last five Southland Conference openers and since the Ladyjacks joined the league prior to the start of the 1988 season they have gone 20-9 in conference openers.
• Volleyball fans from Nacogdoches, Texas, Natchitoches, La., and elsewhere around the globe have the ability to witness every points between the Ladyjacks and Lady Demons Saturday afternoon by watching the match on ESPN3 and the ESPN app. Play-by-play and analysis will once again be doled out by Greg Miller.
LAST TIME OUT
• Back in Shelton Gym for the first time in nearly two weeks SFA unleashed a powerful offensive assault on Central Arkansas, finishing the match with a season-high .406 attack percentage en route to a 3-0 victory over the Sugar Bears in the Southland Conference opener for both teams.
• Only Corin Evans (11) and Danae Daron (10) amassed 10 or more kills, but they were joined by three other Ladyjacks who made the most of their limited swings.
• Sophomore Shayla Eagleton totaled nine kills on 12 swings, tying a career-high with a hitting percentage of .750. Also adding nine kills was Haley Coleman while Makenzee Hanna finished with eight.
• Directing the Ladyjacks' potent offense was sophomore Ann Hollas who dished out 41 assists to tie her season high in that department. Hollas added two of SFA's three service aces in the three-set victory as well.
• Hanna led an excellent kill-prevention effort for SFA in the front row by tying a career high with two solo rejections as part of a six-block effort. In all, the Ladyjacks finished with a 10-1 advantage in blocks over their adversaries from Arkansas.
• No Central Arkansas player racked up more than eight digs but on the other side of the net Lexus Cain scooped up a match-high 15 for SFA.
• SFA's victory over the Sugar Bears was its third-straight inside the confines of Shelton Gym and cut Central Arkansas' lead in the all-time series to 13-6.
SCOUTING NORTHWESTERN STATE | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
• Record vs. Northwestern State | 50-5
• In Nacogdoches, Texas | 24-1
• In Natchitoches, La. | 21-3
• At neutral sites | 5-1
• Humphreys vs. Northwestern State | 50-5
• One season ago, three of the Lady Demons' seven Southland Conference triumphs came in their first three league matches of the season. 2017 has started in similar fashion for Northwestern State who emerged as the victor after a three-set win over Lamar in Beaumont, Texas, Thursday evening.
• That win - just the second in the last eight tries for NSU - came following an 0-3 showing at the Tulane Invitational during the final weekend of the Lady Demons' non-conference schedule. Northwestern State fell in five set to Tulane and Alabama State while also dropping a four-set decision to North Florida.
• Of the 15 matches NSU has taken part in, five of them have gone to five sets. The only one of those five-set bouts to result in a win for the Lady Demons came on September 12 when they bested Louisiana-Monroe on the road.
• Four members of NSU's regular rotation generate two or more kills per set led by Reagan Rogers and her 2.95 per frame. Of those four players, only two are attacking at a clip greater than .200 - Hannah Brister (.225, 2.37 kills per set) and Kourtney Seaton (.325, 2.22 kills per set).
• Like the Ladyjacks, Northwestern State has the ability to give teams fits from the service line. Five Lady Demons have generated 10 or more service aces led by Reagan Rogers' 16. NSU ranks second in the Southland Conference with an average of 1.5 aces per set.
• Dishing out assists for Northwestern State is the job of Kathryn Wristen who ranks third in the 13-team Southland with an assists per set average of 9.25.
• Libero Channing Burleson leads the Lady Demons' back line with a team-best 4.19 digs per set which is the fifth-highest average among all Southland players.
COMING UP NEXT
• By the time the Ladyjacks hit the court for their next match, exactly one week will have elapsed. SFA's lone match next week sends the team to Houston, Texas, for a Southland Conference skirmish with Houston Baptist at 1:00 p.m. Saturday afternoon inside Sharp Gymnasium.
