Ladyjacks Unveil 2018 Schedule
5/29/2018 2:10:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Defending Southland Conference regular season champions to play 31 regular season matches
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - In an announcement made Monday, Stephen F. Austin head volleyball coach Debbie Humphreys unveiled the Ladyjacks' challenging 2018 schedule - one that boasts no fewer than eight matches against opponents who finished among the top 90 in the final RPI ranking in 2017.
Featuring 31 regular season matches scattered across four months, the Ladyjacks' 2018 slate pits the defending Southland Conference champions against 15 non-conference foes, 16 Southland rivals and three entrants from the 2017 NCAA Tournament.
In all, SFA is set to face adversaries from 12 conferences and it all begins on Friday, August 24, at 7:00 p.m. when the Ladyjacks tangle with Memphis out of the American Athletic Conference in a showdown which starts a three-match swing at the Memphis Invitational. The following day, SFA wraps up its stay in Memphis with matches against Arkansas State (10:00 a.m.) and Arkansas-Pine Bluff (4:30 p.m.)
Continuing their cross-country journey, the Ladyjacks' next set of matches takes them to Hamilton, N.Y., as one of four teams in the Colgate Classic Tournament. SFA's two-day stay in central New York begins with a 3:00 p.m. matchup with Princeton out of the Ivy League on Friday, August 31. The Tigers reached the 2017 NCAA Tournament and after facing them the Ladyjacks prep for a pair of matches against Northwestern from the Big 10 (1:00 p.m.) and Colgate (6:00 p.m.) on Saturday, September 1.
After traveling 3,908 total miles to play in its first six matches of the season, SFA never leaves the state of Texas for the next 13 matches. Beginning with a 5:00 p.m. non-conference tilt with Louisiana-Monroe on Tuesday, September 4, the Ladyjacks play six matches in a row on their home floor of Shelton Gym. Four of those tilts take place through two days as the Ladyjacks host Tennessee State, St. John's, Stetson and Grambling State for the Holiday Inn Express SFA Invitational.
Friday, September 7 is the opening day of the tournament which features SFA battling Tennessee State (1:30 p.m.) and St. John's (6:30 p.m.) before closing the tournament the following day with matches against Stetson (12:30 p.m.) and Grambling State (5:00 p.m.). The Ladyjacks conclude their longest home stand of the season on Tuesday, September 11, with a 5:00 p.m. match against C-USA and in-state rival Rice.
For their final set of non-conference matches before Southland play begins, the Ladyjacks travel northwest to Denton, Texas, where they will be one of five teams competing at the North Texas Challenge. Facing a stiff test out of the gates, SFA matches up with 2017 AAC regular season champion and NCAA Tournament qualifier Wichita State at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, September 14 prior to competing against North Texas (11:00 a.m.) and the SEC's Mississippi State (3:30 p.m.) on Saturday, September 15.
Beginning their Southland Conference title defense inside Shelton Gym, the Ladyjacks close out the month of September with four consecutive home league tilts. First on that list is a matchup against 2017 Southland Conference Tournament victor Central Arkansas at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 22.
A busy three-match week features visits from Southland rivals Northwestern State (Tuesday, September 25 at 6:30 p.m.), Houston Baptist (Thursday, September 27 at 6:30 p.m.) and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Saturday, September 29 at 1:00 pm.) before the Ladyjacks head out on the road for their first four matches of October.
Of the eight matches SFA plays in October, only two will take place in Shelton Gym. The Ladyjacks head to Louisiana to tangle with Southeastern Louisiana (Thursday, October 4 at 7:00 p.m.) and Northwestern State (Saturday, October 6 at 1:00 p.m.) before concluding their four-game stretch of Southland road matches with stops at Incarnate Word (Thursday, October 11 at 7:00 p.m.) and Central Arkansas (Tuesday, October 16 at 6:00 p.m.).
From there, the Ladyjacks return home to play New Orleans on Thursday, October 18 at 6:30 p.m. and Nicholls on Saturday, October 20 at 1:00 p.m. before finishing their eight-match month on the road at McNeese (Thursday, October 25 at 7:00 p.m.) and Lamar (Saturday, October 27 at 1:00 p.m.).
The lone regular season meeting between the Ladyjacks and their age-old Piney Woods rivals from Sam Houston State is set for Thursday, November 1 at 6:30 p.m. in Shelton Gym and signals the starting point of a four-match stretch that will conclude SFA's regular season. The Ladyjacks' final Shelton Gym appearance of 2018 features a matchup against Abilene Christian at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 3. For their last two regular season matches of the season, SFA travels to Louisiana once again to battle Nicholls (Thursday, November 8 at 6:30 p.m.) and New Orleans (Saturday, November 10 at 1:00 p.m.).
Should the Ladyjacks qualify for the 2018 Southland Conference Tournament, they would head to Natchitoches, La., on Friday, November 16 to begin their run at the program's first NCAA Tournament appearances since 2006.
For full coverage of the Ladyjacks' volleyball squad as it gears up for the 2018 campaign, follow SFA on Facebook (SFA Volleyball), Twitter (@SFA_Volleyball) and Instagram (@SFA_Volleyball). Additionally, continue to visit SFAJacks.com - the official home of SFA athletics.
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