Stephen F. Austin
New Orleans
SFA Takes Aim at Southland Perfection in Regular Season Finale at New Orleans
11/9/2018 11:10:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Ladyjacks' nation-leading 24-match winning streak to be put to the test against Privateers
Match Thirty-One
SFA (28-2, 15-0 Southland) at New Orleans (12-18, 6-9 Southland)
Saturday, Nov. 10 | 1:00 p.m. | Human Performance Center (1,200) | New Orleans, La.
Live Stats | Watch | Listen (SFAVolleyblog.net) | SFA Match Notes
THE FIRST SERVE
• It has been four years since the SFA volleyball team completed its most recent undefeated run through the Southland Conference and Saturday afternoon in the Big Easy the Ladyjacks will try to put the finishing touches on a perfect 16-0 league record when they tangle with New Orleans.
• Greg Miller was along for the ride for the Ladyjacks' last perfect season in the Southland and he will be again in 2018. SFA's venerable volleyball expert will set up shop in the Human Performance Center on UNO's campus to call each and every point of the action on SFAVolleyblog.net.
• The Ladyjacks' defense has been a little sharper than usual over the last five matches. In that span, SFA has held four of its five foes to an attack percentage under .100. This season, the Ladyjacks have held five adversaries under the .100 mark.
• SFA continues to lead the Southland Conference in opponent hitting percentage (.137) and blocks per set (2.66) while ranking second in the league in hitting percentage (.240), assists per set (12.12), kills per set (13.15), service aces per set (1.44) and digs per set (16.62).
• Speaking to the Ladyjacks' depth, eight different players have led the team in kills for at least one match this season. Senior Haley Coleman is the only Ladyjack who ranks among the top ten in the Southland in kills per set as she leads the team with an average of 2.86.
• The Ladyjacks' 28 wins are tied for the fifth-most in a single season in program history.
• SFA clinched the outright 2018 Southland Conference title Thursday night with its 3-0 win at Nicholls.
LET'S TALK STREAKS (AND WINS)
• SFA's 25-match winning streak is currently the longest in the nation at the moment. Top-ranked BYU has won its first 24 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 10-0 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' 10-match winning streak in road matches is tied with top-ranked BYU for the nation's lengthiest.
• 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 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 16 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' 28 victories are three more than the next closest team in the land. Tenth-ranked Pittsburgh is 25-1 thus far in the 2018 campaign.
TOURNAMENT TALK
• SFA locked up the top overall seed for the 2018 Southland Conference Tournament with its win over Abilene Christian last Saturday afternoon inside Shelton Gym. Abilene Christian, meanwhile, is assured the fourth seed for the tournament but after that the tournament picture is a little less clear.
• Central Arkansas and Sam Houston State will be seeds two and three respectively while Houston Baptist and Northwestern State have also clinched spots in the league tournament. That leaves Incarnate Word, McNeese, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and New Orleans all battling it out for the final two spots. New Orleans must win on Saturday in order to have a chance at making the Tournament.
LAST TIME OUT | SFA 3, at Nicholls 0 (11/8/18)
• Almost nothing went wrong for the Ladyjacks in Thibodaux, La., as SFA posted its 11th-straight victory over Nicholls by getting 11 terminations from senior Haley Coleman in a 3-0 win.
• The victory came on Nicholls' senior night and SFA held the Colonels to an attacking clip of just .027 on the night. The Ladyjacks, conversely, hit .255 and committed only 10 errors to lock up the win.
• Reigning SportsImports/AVCA NCAA Division I National Player of the Week Danae Daron turned in four kills and a match-best five blocks to keep the Colonels' attack percentage numbers low.
• Ann Hollas and Anyia Williams also added four rejections apiece while Makenzee Hanna added three for SFA.
• Coleman generated two of SFA's five service aces whlie Hollas, McKenzie Brewer and Xariah Williams added one each.
SCOUTING NEW ORLEANS | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
Overall vs. New Orleans | 11-3 (.786)
In Nacogdoches, Texas | 6-0 (1.000)
In New Orleans, La. | 3-2 (.600)
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 | 4-2 (.667)
In four-set matches | 6-1 (.857)
In five-set matches | 1-0 (1.000)
Humphreys vs. New Orleans | 11-3 (.786)
Van Norden vs. SFA | 0-7 (.000)
Last meeting | at SFA 3, UNO 1 (10/18/18)
• Needing a win and some help to make it into the Southland Conference Tournament, the Privateers have picked up eight of their 12 wins this season in the confines of the Human Performance Center. Saturday's match will serve as senior day for New Orleans, too.
• A trio of Privateers are averaging at least 2.00 kills per set and those individuals are Kaitlyn Grice (2.37 kills/set), Brianna Vega (2.14 kills/set) and Blessing Dunn (2.13 kills/set). Kyra Hunter (1.82 kills/set) and Ehize Omogihbo (1.73 kills/set) are big pieces of the Privateers' offense, too.
• Grice leads the Southland in blocks per set with an average of 1.30. She has also helped the Privateers average 2.36 rejections per frame as a club.
• Both Andrea Nava (3.54 digs/set) and Dunn (3.00 digs/set) are averaging at least 3.00 digs per set to lead the Privateers' back row.
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
• Prather Coliseum in Natchitoches, La., will serve as the backdrop for the 2018 Southland Conference Tournament and for the second-straight season the Ladyjacks will serve as the top overall seed. SFA's tournament quarterfinal matchup will take place against an opponent to be determined at a time to be determined on Friday, Nov. 16.
-SFA-
