2018 SFA Volleyball Positional Preview | Outside Hitter
8/10/2018 4:42:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Loaded position group hopes to build off of successes from 2017
As the defending Southland Conference champion Stephen F. Austin volleyball team goes through its fall camp in preparation for the 2018 campaign, SFAJacks.com will be putting out a position-by-position preview of the squad. This portion of the preview focuses on the Ladyjacks' outside hitters - Peyton Redmond, Haley Coleman, Emery Judkins, Xariah Williams, Raeley Crosley and Corin Evans.
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - When looking exclusively at offensive efficiency across the NCAA Division I volleyball landscape in 2017, there were not many teams that bettered Stephen F. Austin in terms of attack percentage. The Ladyjacks led the Southland Conference and ranked 37th nationally with a team attack percentage of .253 and almost half (49.1-percent) of the squad's 1,588 kills came courtesy of its outside hitters.
That outside hitter position is one that will not be lacking any experience headed into 2018, either.
When taking a look at the Ladyjacks' top six kill generators from 2017 - all of whom return to the squad's lineup in 2018 - exactly half were a part of the team's platoon of outside hitters. Foremost among that group is senior Haley Coleman who watched her numbers across all statistical categories spike during a 2017 season in which the Rockwall, Texas, became one of the focal points of SFA's offense.
Following a sophomore season where she hit .120 and averaged 1.11 terminations per set, Coleman stepped to the forefront of the Ladyjacks' offense and wound up leading the squad in kills (313) and kills per set (2.82) while posting a healthy .255 attack percentage. Few in the Southland - or the nation - possessed a volleyball skill set as extensive as Coleman, too, who totaled 316 digs (2.85 per set), 23 service aces and 52 total blocks (two solo, 50 assisted) in 111 sets.
Due to her high level of play across all six rotations Coleman earned an All-Southland Conference First Team selection, but she was hardly the only SFA pin hitter who showcased her versatility night in and night out. Through her offensive efficiency may not have been as high as some of her teammates, Corin Evans more than proved her worth through a splendid sophomore season.
In her final season as an underclassman, Evans may not have gained as much individual notoriety as some of her teammates, but the numbers put up by the Katy, Texas, product were notable nonetheless. Ranking third on the team in kills (273) and kills per set (2.60), Evans' slightly lower attack percentage of .193 was offset by her floor defense as she was one of four 200+ dig producers the Ladyjacks boasted.
In all, Evans scooped up 212 digs (2.02 per set) to go along with 47 total blocks (three solo, 44 assisted) on the defensive front line. One facet of Evans' game that was almost unmatched among SFA's ranks was her prowess at the service line. Her 37 aces were the sixth-most in the Southland one season ago and her per-set average of 0.35 was good enough for the fifth-highest in the 13-team league.
Another of SFA's four seniors, Peyton Redmond enters her final season of collegiate play as an additional six-rotation threat the Ladyjacks have at their disposal. Through 86 sets as a junior, the Liberty Hill, Texas, native generated 119 kills (1.38 per set) and was one of five players on the roster who racked up north of 2.00 digs per set.
Redmond averaged 2.06 digs per set and generated two of her three double-doubles on the year against Southland Conference opposition which helped lift the Ladyjacks to their ninth league regular season title in program history.
With time spent as both a starter and a key reserve in her sophomore year, Xariah Williams saw both an uptick in her playing time and production through 2017. In 53 sets played, Williams hit .234 and put down 1.42 kills per set. Her front row defense played a role in her usage as well as she amassed three or more blocks in three of the 20 matches she took part in.
Of SFA's six pin hitters, two of them - Raeley Crosley and Emery Judkins - are new to the Ladyjacks in 2018. A standout in both soccer and volleyball for Kennedale High School, Crosley is the second member of her family to play collegiate volleyball at a Southland Conference institution. Her mother, Krisha, was an exemplary player for Texas State from 1993-96 when the Bobcats were still members of the league.
Both Crosley and Judkins, who comes to Nacogdoches from Midway High School in Waco, Texas, where she earned the title of District Hitter of the Year as a senior, add to an already loaded position group that should continue to be one of the keys to any and all success the Ladyjacks plan on having in 2018.
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Season Opener
In exactly two weeks, SFA will begin its 2018 season in Memphis, Tenn., as one of four teams in the Memphis Invitational. The Ladyjacks' three-match schedule at the invitational begins at 7:00 p.m., on Friday, August 24, when they tangle with the host Tigers of the University of Memphis.
Stay Social
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