Green Wave And Cowgirls Next For SFA
9/30/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 30, 2009
Tulane (7-4, 3-0 Conference USA) - Oct. 1, 7:00 p.m.
Johnson Coliseum (7,202) - Nacogdoches, Texas
McNeese State (13-3, 1-1 Southland) - Oct. 3, 4:00 p.m.
Memorial Gym (1,500) - Lake Charles, La.
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FOR STARTERS
SFA is coming off a tough six-day stretch that saw them lose a pair of five-set matches at North Texas and to Central Arkansas, while sandwiching in a sweep of Northwestern State. SFA has split its first two league matches of the season, but will have a chance to increase that this weekened when they travel to Lake Charles for a battle with the 13-3 Cowgirls.
But first the Ladyjacks must step out of conference one final time when they host Tulane on Thursday. The Green Wave has won three of its last four, including a sweep over Tulsa in New Orleans, a team that SFA fell to in five sets on Sept. 12 at the Tulsa Invitational.
SFA VS THE OPPONENTS
vs Tulane, SFA leads 4-2
The last time: Tulane 3, SFA 0 • Oct. 17, 2008 • New Orleans
vs McNeese State, SFA leads 28-9
The last time: MCN 3, SFA 1 • Nov. 12, 2008 • Lake Charles
FOLLOW THE LADYJACKS
SFA's matches versus the Green Wave can be followed via Gametracker at www.sfajacks.com with a full recap following the match, while the Ladyjacks' mach at McNeese can be followed via Live Stats at www.mcneesesports.com
Also, keep up with other news and notes about the Ladyjacks with the Ladyjack Volleyball Blog at sfajacks.com, and at www.sfavolleyblog.net. The matches can also be followed via live video streaming at www.sfajacks.com
WHAT'S NEXT
After its match with McNeese the Ladyjacks have three more home matches on the schedule before they play at Johnson Coliseum again. That three-match swing starts with a trip to Thibodaux, followed by a match the very next day with Southeastern Louisiana. SFA then will travel back across the Texas state line and head south to take on TAMUCC on the island. SFA swept the Islanders in a non-conference match on Sept. 19 in the Ladyjack Invitational.
Most In Texas: Since 2004, only one Division I school in the state of Texas has had a better wining percentage than the SFA Ladyjacks, but nobody has enjoyed more total wins. SFA has picked up 144 wins in the last five seasons up to this point, with six wins more than the University of Texas. Here is where the top six rank in Texas since 2004:
Team Record
SFA 144-37
Texas 140-24
Texas State 118-65
TCU 111-71
Texas A&M 94-67
UT-Arlington 86-81
Humphreys Nearing Milestone: Head coach Debbie Humphreys is inching closer and closer to another career milestone: 500 career wins. Only two other coaches in the Southland Conference - Texas State's Karen Chisum and Sam Houston's Brenda Gray - have reached the 500 win mark; however, Humphreys will be the first to hit that milestone as an exclusive member of the league. She entered the season ranked 30th in the country in wins among Division I active head coaches, and depending on how quickly she reaches the mark she would be anywhere from the fourth to the sixth Division I coach in the nation this season alone to reach 500 career wins, with only American's Barry Goldberg reaching 500 in less seasons among that group.
Early Bird Special: It's no surprise that jumping out to an early lead has aided in the Ladyjacks' 12 victories this season, but Monday's loss to Cental Arkansas may be highlighting a trend that SFA will want to reverse very quickly. Monday was the third time this season that SFA has gone the full five sets in a match, and each time it has come out on the wrong end of the stick in losses to Tulsa, North Texas and Central Arkansas. The Ladyjacks are 10-2 this season when taking a 1-0 lead, closing seven of them out early with sweeps. SFA was 8-1 in five-set matches in 2006 and 2005, but since 2007 is just 3-9 with going the distance.
MC Hammer: Sophomore middle blocker MC Bottles got off to a slow start this season coming off a first-team all-conference year in 2008, only getting into double figures in kills once in SFA's first seven matches. Since then Bottles has certainly dropped the hammer on the competition, netting no less than 10 kills in nine of her last 12 matches. In that 12-match streak Bottles is hitting .304 and averaging 2.72 kills per set, only trailing fellow middle blocker Ashley Bailey who is averaging 3.17 kills per set.
Back To Basics: Debbie Humphreys made a point in the off season to emphasize a return to what won SFA four SLC titles from 2004-2007: Defense. So far it looks as though the emphasis has worked, especially as of late. In their last nine matches only one team - Miami - has been able to hit over .120 against SFA, including Central Arkansas who came into Monday's match as the top statistical offense in the league. In those nine matches SFA is holding opponents to just .114 hitting, while rejecting 2.46 shots per set and digging 15.91 balls per set as well.
Little Learning Curve: Freshman Madison Hanlan has wasted no time putting her name toward the forefront of the discussion of Southalnd Conference liberos. She won the league's Defensive Player of the Week honor in her first week on the job and currently sits fourth in the league with 4.06 digs per set, getting at least 10 in each of her last 11 matches dating back to a 21-dig outing at Missouri State. Three times this season she has gone over 20 digs with a career-best of 24 against Gonzaga.
Purple Sweep: Middle blockers MC Bottles and Ashley Bailey were named the Southland Conference's Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week on Sept. 21, marking the first time in 2009 that a single school has swept POTW honors in the league. It was the first weekly honor of the year for Bottles, but the second consecutive win for Bailey who was named Offensive POTW one week prior. Since 2006 there have been eight occasions in which one school has swept the SLC weekly awards, with six of those occasions being SFA. Through four weeks of the 2009 season there have been eight individual weekly honors handed out with half of them going to Ladyjacks.
Third Round K-O: Junior outside hitter Kelsey Owens had been out of the Ladyjack lineup since falling to injury in the first weekend of the season, but made her return in the third game of the Ladyjack Invitational against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Owens was then in the starting lineup just one match later against Miami (OH) and responded with 10 kills and a pair of blocks against the Redhawks. The only upperclassman on the outside for the Ladyjacks, Owens has made it into double-digit kills in five of the seven complete matches she has played in this season.
Miksch-ing It Up: While Kelsey Owens was out, the Ladyjacks made up the difference with sophomore outside hitter Melissa Miksch. The Austin native got the starting nod in SFA's first match without Owens and has played all the way around the court for SFA in every match since. Miksch has picked up five double-doubles, averaging 1.86 kills and 3.39 digs per set. In 15 matches since Sept. 2 she has picked up at least 10 digs on 11 occasions, including setting a new career high of 23 in a four-set win over Mississippi State. She was also named to the all-tournament team at the Ladyjack Invitational, serving four aces in four matches and staying in double-digit digs in every match in the tournament.
-SFA-
