Stephen F. Austin
Houston Baptist
Ladyjacks Battle Houston Baptist Thursday Night, Shoot for 13th-Straight Win
9/26/2018 4:12:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
SFA shoots for first 3-0 Southland Conference start since 2016
Match Eighteen
SFA (15-2, 2-0 Southland) vs. Houston Baptist (8-8, 1-1 Southland)
Thursday, Sept. 27 | 6:30 p.m. | Nacogdoches, Texas | Shelton Gym (600)
Live Stats | Watch (ESPN3/ESPN app) | SFA Match Notes (PDF)
Play-by-Play • Greg Miller | Analysis • Brittany Castledine
THE FIRST SERVE
• Armed with the nation's fourth-longest active winning streak as well as its best start through 17 matches in a decade, the SFA volleyball team continues its four-match Southland Conference home stand Thursday evening inside Shelton Gym by doing battle against in-state and league adversary Houston Baptist. The 12th all-time clash between the Ladyjacks and Huskies is set to begin at 6:30 p.m. and will be broadcast nationwide on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app. Noted Southland Conference volleyball buffs Greg Miller and Brittany Castledine will narrate each and every point of the tilt.
• For the sixth-straight season the Ladyjacks have won each of their first two Southland Conference matches of the season. One of just four squads in the 13-team league that have not suffered a conference setback, SFA has relied on a strong front-row defensive presence as well as the play of senior Makenzee Hanna to get the job done through the early portion of the league slate.
• Through its two league tilts, SFA is averaging a Southland-best 3.67 blocks per set and headlining the Ladyjacks' group of front row defenders is sophomore Anyia Williams. Her blocks per set average of 2.00 in Southland matches leads the 13-team league and makes her the only individual in the league with two or more rejections per frame in Southland action.
• Junior middle blocker (1.33 blocks/set), senior outside hitter Haley Coleman (1.17 blocks/set) and junior setter Ann Hollas (1.00 blocks/set) rank sixth, 10th and 15th respectively in blocks per set in Southland-only matches, giving the Ladyjacks the league's premier front line.
• Accustomed to stepping up defensively in the middle, Hanna has turned into one of the best offensive weapons SFA has at its disposal through the early stages of Southland play. The DeSoto, Texas, product is hitting .471 through the Ladyjacks' two league matches which places her second among all Southland players. Hanna's kills per set average of 3.17 in Southland play is the 11th-highest in the conference and is bettered within SFA's ranks by only senior outside hitter Peyton Redmond's average of 3.33 terminations per set and Coleman's average of 3.50 kills per frame.
LAST TIME OUT
• With SFA's middle blockers effectively shut down offensively due to the defensive pressure of Northwestern State, the Ladyjacks turned to their pin hitters to push them past the Lady Demons, 3-0, Tuesday night inside Shelton Gym.
• SFA repelled the latest upset try by their longtime Southland Conference adversaries by receiving a match-high 12 terminations from senior outside hitter Peyton Redmond and 10 more from senior middle blocker Makenzee Hanna who hit .500 in the victory.
• Though it went down as a 3-0 victory, those three frames were decided by a grand total of 17 points. Northwestern State did itself no favors from the service line, however, as it committed 12 service miscues - a single-match high by an SFA opponent this season. Each team finished with four service aces.
• SFA's Anyia Williams and Northwestern State's Madeline Drake each totaled six blocks in the tilt and the squads finished deadlocked in terms of rejections with 10 apiece. The Ladyjacks, however, finished with a plus-nine margin in kills (40-31) and a .223-.150 advantage in terms of attack percentage to get the job done.
• With the win, SFA continued its historical dominance against its longtime foes from the Pelican State. The Ladyjacks pushed their all-time record against Northwestern State to 52-5 (.912) and also made it five consecutive triumphs over the Lady Demons.
SCOUTING HOUSTON BAPTIST | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
SFA vs. Houston Baptist all-time | 6-5 (.545)
In Nacogdoches, Texas | 2-1 (.667)
In Houston, Texas | 4-3 (.571)
At neutral sites | 0-1 (.000)
Streak | HBU won one
Last five matches | 3-2 (.600)
Last 10 matches | 5-5 (.500)
In three-set matches | 5-1 (.833)
In four-set matches | 1-3 (.250)
In five-set matches | 0-1 (.000)
Humphreys vs. Houston Baptist | 6-5 (.545)
Herman vs. SFA | 4-3 (.571)
Last meeting | at HBU 3, SFA 0 (9/30/17) | Recap
• Houston Baptist head coach Trent Herman bears the enviable distinction of being one of just two current Southland Conference head coaches who possess a winning record against SFA and he'll by shooting for the team's second-straight victory over SFA when he leads the Huskies into Shelton Gym Thursday night.
• The Huskies head into the matched boasting one of the nation's premier service games. Houston Baptist leads the Southland Conference with an average of 1.86 service aces per frame and most of the damage from the line has been done by freshman Kelly Colwell (18, 0.45 per set), Megan Patillo (18, 0.32 per set) and Mikayla Vivens (17, 0.31 per set).
• Colwell sat out the entire 2017 campaign due to an injury but has emerged as one of the Huskies' most potent weapons on offense. The outside hitter ranks second on the team and fifth in the conference with a kills per set average of 3.17 but has not appeared in Houston Baptist's last five matches.
• Another underclassman, Vivens won the inaugural Southland Conference Offensive Player of the Week award of 2018 and has not slowed down since. The sophomore tops the Huskies' charts and ranks third in the Southland Conference with a kills per set average of 3.36. Hardly limited to just a threat on offense, Vivens is also one of two players in the Southland who is averaging at least three kills and three digs per set as her digs per set average of 3.31 ranks second among Houston Baptist's ranks.
• Houston Baptist joins Sam Houston State as the only other Southland Conference club with two players at three or more digs per set. Huskies' libero Hannah Miller leads the team and ranks seventh in the league with a digs per set average of 4.07.
• Madison O'Brien runs the Huskies offense, dishing out 9.27 assists per set to ranks second in the Southland in that statistical category.
ON THE ATTACK
• Three of the Southland's top ten attack percentage leaders are currently sporting SFA colors. Sophomore Anyia Williams (.327) ranks second in the league in that category while Hanna (.320) and Daron (.314) check in at fifth and eighth respectively. Those three have helped the Ladyjacks rise to the top of the league with a team attack percentage of .253.
BALANCING ACT
• Despite having no players among the top ten in the Southland in kills per set, SFA has still managed to rack up the victories.
• Four Ladyjacks have racked up at least 100 kills through 2018 thus far with Coleman's 166 leading the way. Also in the 100-kill club are Danae Daron (136, 2.43/set), Peyton Redmond (132, 2.59 per set) and Makenzee Hanna (117, 2.02 per set). The first three individuals in that group of four rank 10th, 13th and 18th respectively in the Southland in terms of kills per set.
POLL POSITION
• SFA leaped into the VolleyballMag.com Mid-Major Poll for the first time in 2018 last Tuesday afternoon and will likely make a jump following its three-set victory over Central Arkansas last Sautrday afternoon in Shelton Gym.
• In the weekly listing that is released every Tuesday, SFA checked in at number 25 in the nation to make them one of two new teams in the poll. The Ladyjacks are the only team in Texas as well as the only team from the Southland to appear in the poll.
COMING UP NEXT
• The two teams who have won the last four Southland Conference regular season titles are set to collide Saturday afternoon inside Shelton Gym when SFA hosts Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. First serve between the Ladyjacks and Islanders has been set for 1:00 p.m. and SFA's final home match of the month will be carried live on ESPN3 and the ESPN app with Greg Miller and Brittany Castledine on the headsets.
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