Stephen F. Austin
Lamar
Ladyjacks Clash with Cardinals in Beaumont Saturday Afternoon
10/26/2018 2:21:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
SFA remains in the lead in the Southland standings, has a one-game lead over Sam Houston State
Match Twenty-Seven
SFA (24-2, 11-0 Southland) at Lamar (6-16, 3-8 Southland)
Saturday, Oct. 27 | 1:00 p.m. | McDonald Gym (500) | Beaumont, Texas
Live Stats | Watch | Listen (SFAVolleyblog) | SFA Match Notes
Play-by-Play/Analysis | Greg Miller
THE FIRST SERVE
• For its final match in the month of October, the SFA volleyball team takes the nation's second-longest active winning streak as well as its undefeated Southland Conference record to Beaumont, Texas, where they will both be placed on the line Saturday afternoon inside McDonald Gym. There, at 1:00 p.m., SFA battles Lamar for the 54th time in program history.
• Also heading to Beaumont with the Ladyjacks is Greg Miller who will set up shop in the far corner of McDonald Gym to provide play-by-play and analysis of the Southland skirmish via an online radio stream available at SFAVolleyblog.net. Live stats and a free live video stream will also be provided by Lamar.
• Following the events of Thursday night, SFA increased its nation-leading win total to 24 matches and maintained its one-match lead for first place in the Southland Conference standings. Sam Houston State, who sits in second place, pulled off a five-set win at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and remains one game back of SFA. Abilene Christian, meanwhile, fell in four sets at Houston Baptist and now sits in a tie for third place with Central Arkansas. Both the Huskies and Sugar Bears are 9-2 in league tilts and sit two games back of SFA.
• A win would push SFA's win total to 25 and mark the 11th time in program history in which the Ladyjacks piled up at least 25 victories in a season. Should that come to pass, it would also signify the first back-to-back seasons of 25 or more wins for the program since 2006 (31 wins) and 2007 (27 wins).
• SFA's 21-match winning streak is tied with top-ranked BYU for the second-longest in the nation. Only fifth-ranked Pittsburgh (22-0) owns a longer winning streak than SFA as the Panthers have won their first 22 matches of the year.
• Those three aforementioned teams - BYU, Pittsburgh and SFA - are also the only NCAA Division I volleyball teams who have not dropped a road match this season. SFA is 8-0 on the road this year with its only two losses coming at a neutral site.
• Owning a perfect record in Southland play, SFA is one of just 20 teams in the nation who have not lost a conference match. Rice and Texas State are the only two other teams in the state of Texas who can make that claim.
• SFA continues to lead the Southland in blocks per set (2.46) and second in attack percentage (.241), opponent attack percentage (.152), assists per set (12.32), kills per set (13.28) and digs per set (16.51).
LAST TIME OUT | at McNeese 0, SFA 3 (Oct. 25, 2018)
• Behind a balanced offensive attack featuring nine kills from senior outside hitter Peyton Redmond and eight more from both senior outside hitter Haley Coleman and junior middle blocker Danae Daron, SFA won its ninth-straight match over McNeese by defeating the Cowgirls in three sets inside Memorial Gym in Lake Charles, La.
• Coleman's floor defense helped SFA pull out the win, too, as the Rockwall, Texas, product matched a season-high by scooping up 18 digs.
• Also in double-digit dig territory for the Ladyjacks were freshman libero Sabrina Monaco (13) and junior setter Ann Hollas (14 digs). The latter completed her team-leading 11th double-double of the year by passing out a team-high 21 assists. Hollas narrowly missed out on what would have been her second triple-double of the year, too, by finishing with seven of SFA's 40 kills.
• At the service line, SFA was led by Redmond who fired in two of the Ladyjacks' three aces. Senior setter McKenzie Brewer added the other and also passed out 12 assists to go along with five digs.
• The Ladyjacks were the first to 15 points in just two of the three sets and won the match by a combined 12 points. Eight fewer hitting errors by SFA as well as a 7-4 advantage in blocks helped the Ladyjacks lock up the victory.
SCOUTING LAMAR | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
SFA vs. Lamar | 32-21 (.604)
In Nacogdoches, Texas 15-9 (.625)
In Beaumont, Texas | 15-11 (.577)
At neutral sites | 2-1 (.667)
Streak | SFA won 10
Last five matches | 5-0 (1.000)
Last 10 matches | 10-0 (1.000)
In three-set matches | 19-9 (.679)
In four-set matches | 9-8 (.529)
In five-set matches | 4-4 (.500)
Humphreys vs. Lamar | 32-20 (.615)
Kuester vs. SFA | 0-0 (.000)
Last meeting | at SFA 3, Lamar 0 (11/11/17)
• In her first season at the helm of the Cardinals, head coach Michelle Kuester has already helped Lamar exceed its win total from a season ago. Lamar is 6-16 and 3-8 in Southland Conference action.
• The Cardinals sit just 1.5 matches behind Northwestern State for the all-important eighth place in the league standings. The top eight teams in the conference make the cut for the Southland Conference Tournament in mid-November.
• Possessing a strong service game, Lamar ranks seventh in the Southland in terms of service aces per set. Leading the way for the Cardinals in that category are Zahria Scott (23 aces) and Tomas Thomas (20 aces), the latter of which also serves as the Cardinals' primary weapon on offense.
• Thomas is the lone member of the Cardinals who has pounded down over 200 kills this season and her per-set average of 2.86 leads the team. That has helped her rank 10th in the Southland in points per set with a figure of 3.32.
• Middle blocker Ivette Dim is the most accurate attacker among Lamar's ranks as she is hitting .272 while averaging 2.02 kills per set. The senior tops the Cardinals' charts in total blocks (66) and blocks per set (0.79).
• Handling setting duties for the Cardinals are Kyla Rogers (5.12 assists per set) and Alyssa Legette (4.56 assists per set).
• Three of the Cardinals' final five matches of the regular season will take place on their home court of Memorial Gym. It's there that Lamar has posted all six of its victories this year.
COMING UP NEXT
• The top two teams in the Southland Conference - with each one led by one of NCAA Division I volleyball's top 15 active winningest coaches - are set to square off inside Shelton Gym Thursday evening as the Ladyjacks welcome longtime Piney Woods rival Sam Houston State to Nacogdoches for the first time since 2016. First serve between the Ladyjacks and Bearkats has been set for 6:30 p.m. and the big-time showdown will be broadcast nationwide on ESPN+ with Greg Miller and Brittany Castledine on the call.
-SFA-
