Stephen F. Austin
#5 Houston Baptist
SFA Continues Southland Conference Tournament Run against Fifth-Seeded Houston Baptist Saturday
11/16/2018 8:56:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
The Ladyjacks are the nation's only 30-win team and seek first trip to Southland Conference Tournament finals since 2009
Southland Conference Tournament | Semifinals | Tournament Central | Tickets
Match Thirty-Three
#1 SFA (30-2) vs. #5 Houston Baptist (16-15)
Saturday, Nov. 17 | Noon | Prather Coliseum (3,900) | Natchitoches, La.
Live Stats | Watch (Southland Digital Network) | SFA Match Notes
THE FIRST SERVE
• The only team in the nation with 30 or more wins continues its postseason run Saturday at noon inside Prather Coliseum when the top-seeded SFA volleyball team does battle with fifth-seeded Houston Baptist in the first of two Southland Conference Tournament semifinal bouts in Natchitoches, La.
• Tony Taglavore will have the call of the match on the Southland Digital Network. Tickets for Saturday's semifinal will be available at the door are prices have been set at $10 for adults and $5
for children and seniors. Students from all Southland Conference institutions will get in free of charge if they present a valid student ID. • SFA holds a 28-27 all-time record in the Southland Conference Tournament including a 7-5 mark as the number-one seed.
• This season marks the seventh time that the Ladyjacks have been the top overall seed for the tournament. SFA previously held the number-one seed designation in 1995, 1996, 2005, 2006, 2014 and 2017.
• SFA has claimed four Southland Conference Tournament championships in program history (1994, 2997, 1999 and 2006).
• Saturday's showdown with the Huskies is SFA's second meeting with Houston Baptist in the Southland Conference Tournament. The Ladyjacks dropped their first meeting with the Huskies, 3-0, in the quarterfinal round of the 2015 Southland Conference Tournament in Conway, Ark.
LET'S TALK STREAKS (AND WINS)
• SFA's 27-match winning streak is currently the longest in the nation at the moment. Top-ranked BYU has won its first 26 matches to begin the season to possess the nation's second-longest active winning streak
• That winning streak by SFA is also the longest in program history. With Friday's Southland Conference Tournament quarterfinal win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, the Ladyjacks passed 2006 edition of the the team for the longest winning streak in program history. That 2006 squad won 26 in a row which included the program's first - and so far only - NCAA Tournament victory.
• SFA is a perfect 11-0 in road matches this season. That makes the Ladyjacks one of only two NCAA Division I volleyball teams in the land who have not lost a true road match this season (BYU is the other). Also, the Ladyjacks' 11-match winning streak in road matches is the lengthiest in the nation.
• Not only is SFA perfect on the road, but it is perfect inside Shelton Gym this season, too. The Ladyjacks are 14-0 on their home floor and have won 15-straight matches there dating back to last season. That gives SFA the nation's eighth-longest active home court winning streak and makes it one of 16 teams in the land this year that haven't lost a home match.
• Dating back to last season, SFA has also won 17 consecutive Southland Conference matches - the seventh-longest active in-conference winning streak in all of NCAA Division I volleyball.
• No team in the nation has amassed more wins so far than SFA. The Ladyjacks' 30 victories are three more than the next closest team in the land. Pittsburgh, Denver and East Tennessee State have each won 26 matches so far in 2018.
LAST TIME OUT | #1 SFA 3, #8 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 1 (Friday, Nov. 16)
• Junior setter Ann Hollas turned in the first triple-double in Southland Conference Tournament history, amassing 10 kills, 20 assists and 10 digs to help the Ladyjacks get by the Islanders in four sets.
• Hollas' triple-double was her second of the season and she's now tied for the most triple-doubles in the Southland this sesaon.
• Haley Coleman added a 10-kill, 13-dig double-double for SFA who received 10 or more terminations from four different players.
• Danae Daron led the way for the Ladyjacks with a team-high 15 terminations and added five rejections.
• Senior setter McKenzie Brewer dished out a season and team-high 27 assists and matched her career high by serving up three aces. Coleman also added a trio of aces to help the Ladyjacks post a 9-2 edge in service aces over the Islanders.
• Sophomore Anyia Wiliams, who celebrated her birthday on Friday, turned in a season-high 12 terminations and hit a season-best .556 as well. Her four blocks were one less than Daron and Makenzee Hanna who posted five apiece.
• Texas A&M-Corpus Christi got a match-best 20 kills off the hands of Julia Carter and hit .202 in its season finale. The Islanders became the first Southland Conference opponent since Oct. 31, 2017, to hit .200 or better against SFA in a match.
SCOUTING HOUSTON BAPTIST | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
Overall vs. Houston Baptist 7-5 (.583)
In Nacogdoches, Texas 3-1 (.750)
In Houston, Texas 4-3 (.571)
At neutral sites 0-1 (.000)
Streak SFA won one
Last five matches 3-2 (.600)
Last 10 matches 5-5 (.500)
In three-set matches 5-1 (.833)
In four-set matches 2-3 (.400)
In five-set matches 0-1 (.000)
Humphreys vs. Houston Baptist 7-5 (.583)
Herman vs. SFA 4-4 (.500)
Last meeting at SFA 3, HBU 1 (9/27/17)
• Houston Baptist battled back from a 2-0 deficit against fourth-seeded Abilene Christian to earn a 3-2 victory in the second 2018 Southland Conference Tournament quarterfinal match Friday at Prather Coliseum.
• All-Southland Conference First Team pick Mikayla Vivens leads the Huskies in kills (431) and kills per set (3.56). Megan Patillo (2.08 kills/set), Ashtyn Richie (1.94 kills/set) and Kayla Davenport (1.80 kills/set) are the other three Huskies with 200 or more terminations this season.
• Madison O'Brien (34 aces), Vivens (33 aces) and Hanna Lewis (32 aces) are the three primary service threats for the Huskies but five Houston Baptist player have accumulated 25 or more winners from the service line.
• Lewis' dig total of 500 works out to a team-leading 4.03 scoops per set but Vivens has proven herself as a splendid six-rotation player, too, by averaging 3.17 digs per set.
• Five-set matches are nothing new for the Huskies. Nine of Houston Baptist's 31 matches in 2018 have gone the distance and the Huskies are 5-4 in five-set battles.
COMING UP NEXT
• If the Ladyjacks get by the Huskies, they will advance to the Southland Conference Tournament championship match for the first time since 2009. That bout is slated to begin at 3:05 p.m. Sunday afternoon and will be broadcast nationwide on ESPN+ and the ESPN app.
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