Stephen F. Austin
Nicholls
SFA Seeks Outright 2018 Southland Regular Season Crown, Battles Nicholls in Thibodaux
11/7/2018 10:29:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Ladyjacks ride nation-leading 24-match winning streak into Stopher Gym
Match Thirty
SFA (27-2, 14-0 Southland) at Nicholls (3-24, 1-13 Southland)
Thursday, Nov. 8 | 6:30 p.m. | Stopher Gymnasium (3,800) | Thibodaux, La.
Live Stats | Listen (SFAVolleyblog.net) | Watch | SFA Match Notes
THE FIRST SERVE
• Needing just one more victory to claim the 2018 Southland Conference regular season title outright, the SFA volleyball team takes its nation-leading 24-match winning streak to the Pelican State for the final week of league action. Thursday evening in Thibodaux, La., the Ladyjacks will do battle with Nicholls on the floor of Stopher Gymnasium at 6:30 p.m.
• Noted SFA volleyball historian Greg Miller will be courtside as he hopes to call the latest piece of history in Ladyjack lore. Miller's spirited play-by-play and analysis can be heard via an online radio stream available at SFAVolleyblog.net.
• It has been an historic week for the Ladyjacks, but before history was made SFA took another leap in the NCAA Division I volleyball RPI rankings which were released on Monday afternoon. The Ladyjacks possess an RPI ranking of 44 in the current listing - one off the program record of 43 set at the conclusion of the 2006 season. SFA's RPI ranking of 44 is the best in the Southland and 64 spots higher than the next closest team in the league (Central Arkansas, 108).
• Thanks to an historic front-row defensive effort in their most recent match, SFA now owns the nation's fourth-best opponent attack percentage. The Ladyjacks are allowing opponent to hit only .140 against them this season. Only Florida Gulf Coast (.130), Nebraska (.131) and Denver (.139) have posted lower opponent attack percentage figures so far this season.
LET'S TALK STREAKS (AND WINS)
• SFA's 24-match winning streak is currently the longest in the nation at the moment. Top-ranked BYU has won its first 23 matches to begin the season to possess the nation's second-longest active winning streak
• That winning streak by SFA is also the second-longest in program history, surpassed only by a run of 26 consecutive victories in 2006.
• SFA is a perfect 9-0 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' nine-match road winning streak is the second-longest in the nation behind only top-ranked BYU who has won 10 in a row on the road.
• 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 14-straight matches there dating back to last season. That gives SFA the nation's seventh-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 15 consecutive Southland Conference matches - the seventh-longest active in-conference winning streak in all of NCAA Division I volleyball.
• It has now been over one calendar year since a Southland Conference foe hit over .200 against the Ladyjacks, too. The last Southland adversary to hit .200 or better against SFA was Texas A&M-Corpus Christi who hit .267 in a 3-0 win over SFA on October 31, 2017 inside Shelton Gym.
• No team in the nation has amassed more wins so far than SFA. The Ladyjacks' 27 victories are three more than the next closest team in the land. Tenth-ranked Pittsburgh is 25-1 thus far in the 2018 campaign.
LET'S TALK TITLES
• SFA needs to win just one of its final two matches to claim the 2018 Southland Conference regular season title outright. The Ladyjacks own a two-match lead for the top spot over Central Arkansas who sits in second place and both squads have two matches remaining on their regular season schedules.
• The Ladyjacks already have a share of the program's 10th regular season Southland Conference crown. It's the second in a row for SFA who claimed the 2017 league title, too.
• Prior to this season, SFA previously captured the Southland Conference regular season title in 2017, 2014, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 1996, 1995 and 1994.
• All of those regular season titles have been won under the direction of 31st-year head coach Debbie Humphreys.
LET'S TALK TOURNAMENT
• SFA locked up the top overall seed for the 2018 Southland Conference Tournament with its win over Abilene Christian on Saturday afternoon inside Shelton Gym.
LAST TIME OUT | Abilene Christian 1, at SFA 3 (11/3/18)
• In order to wash away the painful memories of their matchup against the Wildcats in the 2017 Southland Conference Tournament quarterfinal match, SFA established a new rally scoring era program record by amassing 25.5 total blocks in a 3-1 victory over Abilene Christian in SFA's home finale last Saturday afternoon.
• The win finished up SFA's regular season home schedule and gave the Ladyjacks their first perfect season at home since 2005.
• Abilene Christian finished with 45 kills against 45 errors and posted a hitting percentage of .000 - the lowest by an SFA opponent in 2018. SFA's 25.5 blocks were the most in a four-set match by an NCAA Division I volleyball team this season and the second-highest total in a match of any length.
• Individually, both Danae Daron and Makenzee Hanna notched double-doubles as did Ann Hollas. Daron and Hanna each went for a team-high 10 kills and blocked 13 and 11 balls respectively. Hollas turned in 21 assists and 22 digs, marking her second-straight match with 20 or more scoops.
• Sophomore middle blocker Anyia Williams also finished with 11 blocks - a new career right. Daron, Hanna and Williams each established new career highs in block assists and total blocks in the win.
• SFA's 45 block assists represented a new program best for a single match while Daron's 13 rejections are the second-most in a single match in SFA's program history.
SCOUTING NICHOLLS | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
Overall vs. Nicholls | 45-6 (.880)
In Nacogdoches, Texas | 24-2 (.923)
In Thibodaux, La. | 15-3 (.833)
At neutral sites | 6-1 (.857)
Streak | SFA won 10
Last five matches | 5-0 (1.000)
Last 10 matches | 10-0 (1.000)
In three-set matches | 28-1 (.966)
In four-set matches | 10-2 (.833)
In five-set matches | 7-3 (.700)
Humphreys vs. Nicholls | 44-5 (.898)
Van Vark vs. SFA | 0-1 (.000)
Last meeting | at SFA 3, Nicholls 0 (10/20/18)
• In the midst of a 10-match losing skid, the Colonels will be celebrating senior day on Thursday despite there being one last match on their regular season schedule following that night's tilt against SFA.
• Following their lone Southland Conference victory against Southeastern Louisiana on Sept. 27, the Colonels have dropped 10 in a row but come into Thursday night's match hoping to snap a 10-game skid against SFA.
• Brieanna Hill (2.30 kills/set) and Katie Jones (2.30 kills/set) are the only two Colonels who average greater than 1.65 kills per set and lead a Nicholls' attack that hits a collective .136.
• Emily Venable (0.28 aces/set) and Heidi Carpenter (0.27 aces/set) are the Colonels' two best threats at the service line. The latter has posted a pair of triple-doubles in 2018 - the most by any Southland player.
• Venable also leads Nicholls in digs per set (3.65) while Aaliyah Burras (0.79 blocks/set) heads things up at the front of the net.
• Nicholls has been eliminated from Southland Conference Tournament contention.
DARON MAKES HISTORY
• After winning the Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Week award for the second time this season Monday afternoon, junior middle blocker Danae Daron went and accomplished something that no SFA volleyball player before her had when the Crosby, Texas, product was named the SportsImports/AVCA NCAA Division I National Player of the Week Tuesday afternoon.
• Daron posted averages of 2.75 kills and 2.50 blocks per set while hitting an eye-popping .625 through SFA's two-match stretch last week. The Ladyjacks took down both Sam Houston State and Abilene Christian in four sets to clinch at least a share of the 2018 Southland Conference regular season crown.
• Daron posted a career-high 13 blocks in SFA's win over Abilene Christian and currently leads the Southland in attack percentage and ranks second in blocks per set.
COMING UP NEXT
• Should the good times continue to roll after Thursday, the Ladyjacks will head to the Big Easy in search of the program's first undefeated run through the Southland Conference since 2014. Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m., SFA pays a visit to the Human Performance Center on the campus of New Orleans for its Southland Conference finale against the Privateers.
-SFA-
