Inside SFA Athletics | Week of Oct. 21-27
10/22/2019 5:00:00 PM | Football, Women's Soccer, Women's Volleyball
Inside SFA Athletics | Week of Oct. 21-27
Football
SFA (1-6, 1-3 Southland) vs. McNeese (4-4, 2-3 Southland)
Saturday, Oct. 26 | 3:00 p.m. | Homer Bryce Stadium | Nacogdoches, Texas
Watch (ESPN+/ESPN app) | Listen | Live Stats | Tickets | SFA Game Notes
• Following a stretch of over one month away from Nacogdoches, the SFA football team returns home - and will be joined at Homer Bryce Stadium by a large contingent of homecoming well-wishers - for a Southland Conference showdown with longtime Louisiana rival McNeese at 3:00 p.m. Saturday afternoon. The tilt, which is sponsored by Pilgrim's, will serve as the 80th Homecoming game in program history and will be broadcast around the globe on ESPN+ and the ESPN app.
• Saturday, alumni, friends and family from all over the Lone Star State and nationwide will flock to Texas' oldest town and the campus of SFA for Homecoming 2019. The 'Jacks hold a 41-37-1 (.525) all-time record in homecoming games since the tradition began on Nov. 28, 1929, when SFA defeated Sam Houston State by a score of 14-12. In five of the last seven and six of the previous 10 homecoming contests, the 'Jacks have emerged victorious with wins over Sam Houston State, McNeese, Nicholls twice, Southeastern Louisiana, Incarnate Word and Houston Baptist. SFA has had just three missteps on homecoming since 2008. The last time the 'Jacks emerged as the victors on homecoming was in 2017 when they earned a 27-10 win over HBU in the first-ever matchup against the Huskies on homecoming. Saturday's showdown with the Cowboys marks the ninth meeting between the 'Jacks and their Louisiana rivals on homecoming. McNeese has won five of the eight meetings before Saturday, but the 'Jacks claimed a 37-17 triumph over the Cowboys in the 2011 homecoming bout for their first homecoming victory over McNeese in the 21st century.
• Playing in its second homecoming game of the 2019 season, the 'Jacks battled back from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit and sent things to overtime when senior kicker Storm Ruiz nailed a 27-yard field goal with 27 seconds to go, but Abilene Christian locked up the win with a game-winning 22-yard touchdown pass in the second overtime session to earn a 31-24 double-overtime triumph last Saturday at Wildcat Stadium.
• The loss snapped the 'Jacks' three-game winning streak against Abilene Christian and dropped SFA to 0-2 in overtime contests in 2019. SFA has lost its last five overtime contests, having not won one since defeating Nicholls, 27-21, in an overtime game on Oct. 8, 2005, under the direction of then-head coach Robert McFarland.
• SFA struck first when freshman wide receiver Xavier Gipson took a swing pass to the flats from sophomore quarterback Trae Self 78 yards to the endzone. That touchdown reception was SFA's longest play of the season so far.
• Tied at 14 at the half, the game shifted to Abilene Christian's favor when the Wildcats scored 10 points in the third. Fortunately, the 'Jacks had a comeback effort in them through the last 15 minutes of regulation.
• Gipson latched on to his second touchdown of the day when he hauled in a 12-yard pass from Self to the corner of the endzone that cut the Wildcats' lead to 24-21 with 10:09 left.
• In the first overtime, both Ruiz and Abilene Christian kicker Blair Zepeda missed field goals to necessitate a second overtime session. Abilene Christian got the ball first and on third-and-seven Luke Anthony hit receiver Kobe Clark for the eventual game-winning 22-yard touchdown.
• SFA turned the ball over three times in the loss (two fumbles lost and one interception).
Men's Basketball and Women's Basketball
Meet the 'Jacks
Tuesday, Oct. 22 | 6:00 p.m. | First United Methodist Church | Nacogdoches, Texas
• The Fredonia Rotary Club invites all men's and women's basketball fans to the Jack McCullough Meet the 'Jacks fish fry Tuesday evening at 6:00 p.m.
• Tickets to the event are $15 and can be purchased at the door.
• All fans in attendance will receive the opportunity to meet and mingle with the SFA men's and women's basketball coaches and players ahead of the 2019-20 season.
'Jack Madness
Friday, Oct. 25 | 7:00 p.m. | William R. Johnson Coliseum | Nacogdoches, Texas
• SFA's annual 'Jack Madness event is back for 2019-20 and fans in attendance will have the opportunity to win $25,000 worth of cash and prizes.
• Included on the schedule for the night are numerous prize giveaways, a chance to win $10,000 on a half court shot, scrimmages by the men's and women's teams and an autograph signing following the conclusion of the event.
Soccer
SFA (6-9, 3-5 Southland) at Abilene Christian (9-4-2, 5-2-1 Southland)
Friday, Oct. 25 | 7:00 p.m. | Elmer Gray Stadium | Abilene, Texas
Watch | Live Stats
SFA at Incarnate Word
Sunday, Oct. 27 | 1:00 p.m. | Gayle & Tom Benson Stadium | San Antonio, Texas
Watch | Live Stats
• Down to just three regular season matches in 2019, the SFA soccer team will play all three of those matches on the road beginning with this weekend's Southland showdowns at Abilene Christian and Incarnate Word.
• Incarnate Word sits in second place in the league standings while Abilene Christian is one of four teams tied for third in league action. SFA, meanwhile, sits in eighth place in the Southland standings - one match ahead of Central Arkansas and Southeastern Louisiana who are tied for ninth place.
• SFA is 1-3 in true road matches this year with its lone road win of the year coming Friday, Oct. 11, in Conway, Ark., over Central Arkansas.
• Junior midfielder Katelyn Termini has scored one goal in each of her last three games which brings her team-leading goal total up to seven. Two of the last three goals Termini has scored have been game winners, too, and she's up to a team-high 17 points on the year.
• Last week the Ladyjacks went 1-1 at SFA Soccer Field to close out the home portion of their schedule. SFA hammered visiting Nicholls 6-0 on senior night before falling to Southeastern Louisiana 2-1.
Volleyball
rv SFA (20-1, 8-0 Southland) at Central Arkansas (9-12, 3-5 Southland)
Thursday, Oct. 24 | 6:00 p.m. | Prince Center | Conway, Ark.
Watch | Live Stats
rv SFA at Northwestern State
Saturday, Oct. 26 | 1:00 p.m. | Prather Coliseum | Natchitoches, La.
Watch | Listen | Live Stats
• Halfway through its Southland Conference regular season schedule, the SFA volleyball team heads out on the road for two matches in two different states this week.
• SFA continued its rise up the list of teams receiving votes in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Coaches Poll. In the latest poll which was released Monday afternoon, the Ladyjacks amassed a total of 35 votes which is tied with Louisville for the 27th-most votes in the nation. Those 35 votes are a program record.
• With 20 wins, the Ladyjacks are one of three NCAA Division I volleyball teams who have reached the 20-win mark in 2019. Twenty-third ranked Western Kentucky leads the nation with 21 wins while both rv SFA and Milwaukee are tied for second with 20 victories each.
• Dating back to Sept. 15 - a period of over one month - the Ladyjacks have won their last 34 sets. That's the longest active streak of consecutive sets won across the NCAA Division I volleyball scene at the moment and the last 11 wins of the team's 13 consecutive triumphs have come via scores of 3-0.
• SFA's senior class of Danae Daron, Corin Evans, Ann Hollas and Xariah Williams is fast approaching an impressive milestone. With two more victories, those four players will reach an even 100 for their collegiate careers. Should they get there, they'd be the first group of Ladyjacks to reach 100 or more wins in their career since 2007.
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