Stephen F. Austin
Princeton
SFA Heads for New York to Take Part in Ellis Rowland Memorial Tournament
8/30/2018 2:14:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Ladyjacks will face Princeton, Northwestern and Colgate over two days
Ellis Rowland Memorial Tournament | SFA Match Notes (PDF)
Match Four
SFA (3-0) vs. Princeton (0-0) | Friday, August 31 | 3:00 p.m. | Cotterell Court (1,750)
Live Stats
Match Five
SFA vs. Northwestern | Saturday, September 1 | 1:00 p.m. | Cotterell Court (1,750)
Live Stats
Match Six
SFA at Colgate | Saturday, September 1 | 6:00 p.m. | Cotterell Court (1,750)
Watch | Live Stats
THE FIRST SERVE
• As one of 72 undefeated teams across the NCAA Division I volleyball landscape, SFA heads northeast to Hamilton, N.Y., where it will be the lone representative from the southern part of the United States in the Ellis Rowland Memorial Tournament hosted by Colgate.
• SFA joins the host Raiders out of the Patriot League as well as Ivy League power Princeton and Big Ten adversary Northwestern in the four-team tournament which will take place on Friday and Saturday.
• The Ladyjacks start their three-match schedule in the Empire State by taking on Princeton at 3:00 p.m. CT/4:00 p.m. ET Friday afternoon at Cotterell Court on the campus of Colgate University.
SCOUTING REPORT
Princeton • Roster • Schedule • Statistics
Series History | First Meeting
• Coming off of the program's second consecutive NCAA Tournament berth in 2017, Princeton is one of eight NCAA Division I volleyball programs - the seven other members of the Ivy League being the others - who will use this weekend to open their respective 2018 seasons.
• Much like SFA, the Tigers did not lose much from their 2017 squad and return Katy, Texas, product Maggie O'Connell who captured 2017 Ivy League Player of the Year and 2016 Ivy League Rookie of the Year accolades.
• Now a junior, O'Connell punched down a team-leading 302 kills last season, good for a per-set average of 3.39. Through 89 sets played, O'Connell averaged 0.74 digs and 0.67 blocks per set but is hardly the only weapon the Tigers have at their disposal.
• A pair of imposing front row players, Nnenna Ibe and Caroline Sklaver bring a highly effective combination of offense and defense back to the Tigers' lineup. Both are seniors in 2018 and tied for the team lead with 0.88 blocks per set in 2017. Each member of the duo was present in the starting lineup for all of the Tigers' 26 matches and it was Ibe who stood at the head of the line in attack percentage (.359) with Sklaver (.345) not too far behind.
• The fourth primary part of Princeton's attack is junior outside hitter Natasha Skov who was the Tigers' other three-plus kills per set getter in addition to O'Connell through 2017. A high-volume attacker, the Californian led the squad with 758 attacks and finished with 267 terminations (3.18 per set).
• Also returning is junior setter Jessie Harris who worked hand-in-hand with the Tigers' returning contingent of attackers by dishing out 10.55 assists per set one season ago.
Northwestern • Roster • Schedule • Statistics
Series History | First Meeting
• Along with the Ladyjacks, Northwestern is the other undefeated team headed to Hamilton, N.Y., for the Ellis Rowland Memorial Tournament. After posting a ninth-place finish in the Big Ten last year, the Wildcats traveled to Milwaukee, Wis., for the opening weekend of 2018 and won their first three matches out of the gates for the fourth time in the last five seasons.
• Northwestern bested South Dakota, New Hampshire and Milwaukee in a trio of four-set matches last weekend to come out of the gates hot. Freshman setter Kiara McNulty earned the title of Big Ten Freshman of the Week following the Wildcats' 3-0 start, too, having posted a double-double in each of the team's matches last week. McNulty averaged 11.50 assists and 4.00 digs per set during that span.
• Offensively, Abryanna Cannon and Nia Robinson spearheaded the Wilcats' attack in Milwaukee with the former averaging four kills per set and the latter adding 3.67 terminations per frame. No hitter on Northwestern's squad has been more efficient than Olivia Viscuso, however, who is averaging 2.22 kills per set on the strength of a hitting percentage of .621.
• With height as one of their strengths, Northwestern has emerged as a highly effective front row defensive squad early in the season as well. Alana Walker and Cannon average 1.33 and 1.22 blocks per set respectively and have been responsible for 46.6-percent of the team's total blocks through its first three matches.
Colgate • Roster • Schedule • Statistics
Series History | SFA leads 2-0 (1.000)
Streak | SFA won two
In Nacogdoches, Texas | 1-0 (1.000)
In Hamilton, N.Y. | 0-0 (.000)
At neutral sites | 1-0 (1.000)
In three-set matches | 1-0 (1.000)
In four-set matches | 1-0 (1.000)
In five-set matches | 0-0 (.000)
Humphreys vs. Colgate | 2-0 (1.000)
Baker vs. SFA | 0-1 (.000)
Last meeting | at SFA 3, Colgate 0 | 9/9/17
• With a pair of wins under its belt, including one over Big Ten foe Rutgers, Colgate heads back to Hamilton, N.Y., for the first time this season to host its only home non-conference matches of the season.
• Outside hitters Allie Lowe and Alex Stein have shouldered a good portion of the Raiders' offensive load early on having combined for 64 of the team's 133 total terminations. Lowe, who is the reigning Patriot League and ECAC Rookie of the Year, leads the way with a kills per set average of 2.83 while Stein's average stands at 2.50. Neither player, however, is hitting above .180, and the squad's most efficient attacker early on has been Taylor Flaherty (2.00 kills/set, .367 attack percentage).
• Defensively, Bridget Kolsky is the main arm of the Raiders' back line by scooping up a team-leading 4.25 digs per set, but in all four Colgate players average north of two digs per frame.
• Jessica Lathan and Jaelah Hutchison stand tall in the front row and average 1.00 and 0.92 blocks per set respectively.
BREAK OUT THE BROOMS
• Never in program history had the Ladyjacks started a season with three consecutive sweeps before the events of last weekend, but thanks to a varied attack on offense and a defense that put the clamps on all three opponents at the Memphis Invitational SFA needed just nine sets in its first three matches to sweep through Memphis, Arkansas State and Arkansas-Pine Bluff in the opening weekend of 2018.
• SFA is one of 10 teams in all of NCAA Division I volleyball that has not lost a set thus far in 2018. The Ladyjacks join Little Rock, Illinois-Chicago, Drake, Southeast Missouri State, Appalachian State, California, Penn State, Kansas State and Louisville on that exclusive list.
MEMPHIS M.O.P
• Junior middle blocker Danae Daron earned the title of Memphis Invitational Most Outstanding Player after helping lead SFA to three consecutive wins to start the season.
• The Crosby, Texas, product averaged 2.67 kills, 1.22 digs and 0.89 blocks per set through the Ladyjacks' three wins and hit .320 in that span as well.
• Daron was one of three SFA players who earned Memphis Invitational All-Tournament Team accolades last weekend. In addition to Daron, senior setter McKenzie Brewer and junior setter Ann Hollas each carved out a spot for themselves on the All-Tournament Team.
• Hollas averaged 6.12 assists, 2.88 digs and 1.50 kills per set while firing in pair of aces while Brewer turned in averages of 5.33 assists and 1.56 digs while totaling three winners from the service line.
• That pair oversaw an SFA attack that hit .263 through the three-match set while is currently the second-highest mark in the Southland.
HERE WE GO, MONACO!
• True freshman Sabrina Monaco stepped in as SFA's libero for the first two matches of the Memphis Invitational last weekend and turned in a pair of fine outings.
• Through six sets, the first-year libero averaged 5.33 digs per frame which is the second-best mark in the Southland Conference. Monaco's floor defense helped the Ladyjacks' limit the opposition to an attack percentage of .104 over the weekend. That figure is the second-best in the Southland and the 21st-best nationally.
FAST STARTS
• For the seventh time in program history, SFA has won three or more matches to begin its season. The Ladyjacks' longest start to a season without losing a match came in 1992 when the squad went 5-0 to begin the campaign and before 2018 the 2013 SFA team won its first four matches out of the gates.
SERVING OTHERS
• Thanks in large part to a 10-ace attack in their Memphis Invitational finale against Arkansas-Pine Bluff Saturday afternoon, SFA is in possession of one of the nation's best service games thus far.
• Through its three matches, SFA has racked up 20 aces which are the second-most in the Southland and the 50th-most nationally.
• The biggest service threat the Ladyjacks have is senior Haley Coleman who totaled seven aces through her first three matches. That total is the 29th-highest among all NCAA Division I volleyball players while her aces per set average of 0.78 leads the Southland and ranks 15th in the land.
TOP HITS
• Three of the 10 best individual attack percentages in the Southland Conference belong to SFA players. Junior Corin Evans is hitting .375 which is good for third in the league while sophomore Anyia Williams is fourth with an attack percentage of .361 while Daron's mark of .320 is the 10th-highest in the 13-team league.
COMING UP NEXT
• After putting over 4,200 miles behind them through their first two road trips of the season, the Ladyjacks return to Nacogdoches for six consecutive matches in their home digs of Shelton Gym. Tuesday evening at 5:00 p.m., SFA welcomes Louisiana-Monroe to Shelton's confines for a non-conference tilt which will serve as the Ladyjacks' 2018 home opener.
-SFA-
