Stephen F. Austin
Central Arkansas
Southland Volleyball Powers Clash in Conway as Ladyjacks Visit Central Arkansas
10/15/2018 4:39:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
SFA puts nation's third-longest active winning streak on the line Tuesday evening inside the Prince Center
Match Twenty-Three
SFA (20-2, 7-0 Southland) at Central Arkansas (16-4, 6-1 Southland)
Tuesday, October 16 | 6:00 p.m. | Prince Center (400) | Conway, Ark.
Live Stats | Watch ($) | SFA Match Notes
NCAA Division I Volleyball Statistics | Southland Volleyball Statistics
THE FIRST SERVE
• Riding the nation's third-longest active winning streak, the SFA volleyball team concludes a four-match road trip by rolling into the Prince Center on the campus of Central Arkansas for a high-profile Southland Conference clash. At 6:00 p.m. Tuesday evening, the Ladyjacks and Sugar Bears are set to do battle for the second time in 2018.
• Winners of 17 consecutive matches and the only Southland Conference squad without a loss in league action, SFA is one of two NCAA Division I volleyball teams who have reached the 20-win mark in 2018. The Ladyjacks are joined in that category by fifth-ranked Pittsburgh who owns a perfect 20-0 mark so far this year.
• The Ladyjacks are also one of 26 NCAA Division I volleyball teams from around the land who are still perfect in conference play. Of those 26 teams, three are from the state of Texas including Rice, SFA and Texas State.
• SFA joins Pittsburgh, BYU and UCF as the only four NCAA Division I volleyball teams who have not lost a true road match so far this season. Something will have to give, however, as Central Arkansas is one of 34 DI squads who have not suffered a home setback in 2018. The Sugar Bears are 6-0 inside the Prince Center this season.
• A group of four teams led by SFA are stationed near the top of the Southland Conference standings. The Ladyjacks lead the 13-team league with a 7-0 mark while Abilene Christian, Central Arkansas and Sam Houston State are all sitting in a tie for second place one game behind SFA with identical 6-1 league records.
• With a little less than half of their Southland Conference schedule a matter of record, the Ladyjacks remain atop the league in terms of blocks per set (2.52). Additionally, a pair of SFA players - junior Danae Daron and sophomore Anyia Williams - rank among the top seven in the league in blocks per set. Daron's blocks per set average of 1.17 leads the team and ranks fifth in the Southland while Williams' per set average of 1.13 is the seventh-highest in the 13-team league.
• In the latest NCAA Division I volleyball RPI rankings, SFA checked in at 61st - a jump of six spots from last week's RPI rankings. The Ladyjacks' RPI is the highest of the 13 Southland Conference squads with Central Arkansas' ranking of 123 serving as the second-highest. Should the rankings continue to hold, Tuesday evening's match will be the last regular season showdown for SFA against a top 125 RPI foe.
LAST TIME OUT | SFA 3, at Incarnate Word 0 (10/11/18)
• SFA became the first NCAA Division I volleyball team to reach the 20-win mark in 2018 by getting double-doubles from senior outside hitter Haley Coleman and senior setter McKenzie Brewer in a 3-0 Southland Conference victory at Incarnate Word last Thursday night in San Antonio.
• Senior outside hitter Peyton Redmond narrowly missed out on a double-double of her own, finishing with nine kills, nine digs and three of the Ladyjacks' four service aces.
• Reigning Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Week Marisabel Torres continued her strong play in the back row by scooping up a match-high 16 digs.
• Despite finishing with fewer kills, fewer assists and fewer digs than the Cardinals, SFA used some strong front-row defense to put away Incarnate Word. Junior setter Ann Hollas added a match-high five block assists to go along with her team-high 20 assists to help the Ladyjacks finish with a 7-3 edge in blocks.
• Thanks to their front row defense, SFA held the Cardinals to an attack percentage of .158. Incarnate Word committed 22 attack errors through the three-set battle, helping SFA extend its stretch of holding Southland Conference squads under an attack percentage of .200 to 11 consecutive matches. The last Southland squad to hit .200 or better against the Ladyjacks was Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Oct. 31, 2017.
SCOUTING CENTRAL ARKANSAS | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
SFA vs. UCA | 7-13 (.350)
In Nacogdoches, Texas | 5-5 (.500)
In Conway, Ark. | 2-7 (.222)
At neutral sites | 0-1 (.000)
Streak | SFA won two
Last five matches | 3-2 (.600)
Last 10 matches | 4-6 (.400)
In three-set matches | 5-8 (.385)
In four-set matches | 2-2 (.500)
In five-set matches | 0-3 (.000)
Humphreys vs. Central Arkansas | 7-13 (.350)
Jones Chatman vs. SFA | 2-3 (.400)
Last meeting | at SFA 3, UCA 0 (9/22/18)
• Ever since dropping a 3-0 decision at SFA in their Southland Conference opener, the Sugar Bears haven't enjoyed anything but the sweet, sweet taste of victory. Central Arkansas has won each of their six matches and has dropped only two sets during that span.
• Held to an attack percentage of just .178 against the Ladyjacks inside Shelton Gym last month, Central Arkansas has not hit below .220 in a match since. The Sugar Bears' offensive efficiency peaked in the team's most recent outing as UCA hit a season-best .481 in a 3-0 shellacking of Incarnate Word last Saturday.
• Central Arkansas leads the Southland in three statistical categories including hitting percentage (.250), assists per set (12.57) and kills per set (13.51).
• Reigning Southland Conference Player of the Year Samantha Anderson and Savanah Allen rank fourth and fifth respectively among all Southland players in attack percentage. Anderson is hitting .333 while putting down kills at a rate of 3.53 per set while Allen's attacking clip of .330 has led to a kills per set average of 2.52.
• Haley Tippett is another of the Sugar Bears' primary offensive threats as she ranks second on the team and eighth in the Southland with a kills per set average of 3.04. That makes Central Arkansas one of only two programs in the Southland to have two players averaging at least three kills per set.
• After splitting time with fellow set-up specialist Elizabeth Armstrong early in the year, Bailey Waddington has taken over as the Sugar Bears' primary setter through the last six matches. The sophomore is averaging 7.78 assists per frame, the sixth-highest average in the league.
• Waddington has also emerged as one of the best servers in the league as both she and Amanda Dimon are leading the team with an average of 0.33 aces per frame. That's the fourth-highest average in the league.
• Libero Emily Doss has scooped up a Southland Conference high 330 digs and ranks fifth in the league with a digs per set average of 4.40.
• Central Arkansas is the only current Southland Conference team that holds a winning record against SFA. The Sugar Bears are 13-7 all-time against SFA and included in that overall record is a 9-2 mark in Conway, Ark.
17 AND COUNTING
• SFA's 17-match winning streak is the sixth-longest in the history of the program and the longest since the Ladyjacks reeled off 17 in a row en route to the 2014 Southland Conference regular season crown.
• The Ladyjacks are looking to extend their winning streak into the 20s, something that hasn't been done by an SFA volleyball team since 2006. That season, the Ladyjacks amassed 26 consecutive victories, finished the season with a 31-4 record, won the Southland's regular season and tournament titles and made the program's last NCAA Tournament appearance.
COMING UP NEXT
• Following a span of nearly three weeks on the road, the Ladyjacks are set to return to their home floor of Shelton Gym for the first time in October to continue Southland Conference action. Thursday evening at 6:30 p.m., SFA welcomes league and Louisiana adversary New Orleans to Nacogdoches for the third consecutive season. Greg Miller and Brittany Castledine are set to call each and every point of the match on ESPN3 and the ESPN app.
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