| Sept. 19, 2005
Contact: Kyle Stephens (210) 458-4907 Roadrunners face league leader SFA Tuesday Live Audio | Complete Release
SAN ANTONIO - Fresh off a 3-1 victory over Texas-Arlington on Friday, the UTSA volleyball team (4-5, 1-1 SLC) travels to Nacogdoches, Texas, for a Southland Conference match at Stephen F. Austin (9-2, 2-0) on Tuesday, Sept. 20. First serve is set for 7 p.m. at Johnson Coliseum. UTSA Roadrunners (4-5, 1-1 SLC)
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Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks (9-2, 2-0 SLC) Tuesday, Sept. 20 • 7 p.m.
Johnson Coliseum • Nacogdoches, Texas Quick Hitters
• Stephen F. Austin leads the all-time series with UTSA, 23-8, and has won the last nine meetings
• UTSA (1-1 SLC) has posted a 2-1 start in conference play each of the last two seasons
• Junior Meagan Daniel is averaging a double-double (12.7 kills/10.4 digs per match)
UTSA vs. Stephen F. Austin Series History
Stephen F. Austin leads, 23-8
Last Meeting: SFA def. UTSA, 3-0 (30-21, 30-24, 31-29)
Oct. 30, 2004 • San Antonio, Texas
Last UTSA win: Oct. 26, 2000 • San Antonio (15-7, 13-15, 16-14, 15-7)
Scouting Stephen F. Austin
The Ladyjacks are 9-2 overall and 2-0 in the Southland this season after defeating Nicholls State and Southeastern Louisiana at home last weekend. The SLC co-defending regular season champions are led by junior middle blocker Laura Cramer, who is averaging 4.12 kills and 0.66 blocks per game, and junior libero Stephanie Figgers, who has posted 215 digs (5.00 per game). Senior middle blocker Jessica Watson leads the team in blocking with 47 total blocks (1.12 per game), while sophomore setter J.J. Jones has 494 assists (12.05 per game). Head coach Debbie Humphreys is 387-195 in her 18th season at the helm.
Last Time Out
UTSA evened its SLC mark at 1-1 with a 30-21, 23-30, 30-24, 30-28 victory over Texas-Arlington on Friday night at the Convocation Center.
Week In Review
The Roadrunners dropped a four-game heartbreaker at rival Texas State last Tuesday night in the SLC opener for both schools. After winning the first game handily, 30-21, UTSA lost three consecutive two-point decisions to the Bobcats, 29-31, 28-30, 29-31. The Roadrunners improved to 1-1 in the league with a 30-21, 23-30, 30-24, 30-28 home win over Texas-Arlington on Friday night.
Closing In On 400
The UTSA volleyball program has amassed 395 wins in its 23-year history, an average of more than 17 victories per season. The Roadrunners are just five wins away from the 400th victory in school history.
Career Milestone
Fourth-year head coach Laura Neugebauer-Groff won her 300th career game with a 3-0 sweep of Delaware on Sept. 2. The former Texas All-American now owns a 303-121 overall record in 12 seasons. Groff posted a 256-62 (.805) record at St. Mary’s, a Division II school in San Antonio, before taking over as UTSA’s head coach in 2002.
Solid Start
With the sweep of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Sept. 6, UTSA improved to 3-1 on the season. That marks the program’s best start since also beginning the 1999 and 2000 seasons at 3-1. The Roadrunners also picked up victories over Delaware and Charlotte on Sept. 2-3 at the Charlotte/SpringHill Suites Invitational.
Honor Roll
Junior libero Erin McMillan was named Southland Conference co-Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 6 after an impressive opening weekend. The Churchill High School product posted match highs in digs in all three matches for UTSA as the Roadrunners finished second at the Charlotte/SpringHill Suites Invitational. McMillan had 21 digs in a 3-0 sweep of Delaware and 23 digs in a 3-2 loss to Middle Tennessee State, a 6-1 team that owns a victory at Georgia this season. She shared the honor with SFA’s Stephanie Figgers.
Daily Double
Juniors DeeDee Strickland and Meagan Daniel have made habits of turning in double-doubles. Strickland, a setter, has posted double-digit assists in all nine matches and has reached 10 or more digs in six of those. Daniel has reached double figures in kills and digs in five contests and is averaging a double-double with 12.7 kills and 10.4 digs per match.
Dig This
Erin McMillan has been one of the top back row players in the SLC the past two seasons and 2005 is no different. With 142 digs in 29 games, the two-time honorable mention All-SLC libero ranks second in the league with 4.90 digs per game, just behind Stephanie Figgers of SFA (5.00 dpg). McMillan has cruised up the school’s career digs chart to seventh place with 1,203 and is on track to move into third all-time with her third consecutive 500-dig season.
Daniel Delivers
A legitimate SLC Player of the Year candidate, Meagan Daniel has continued to impress as one of the league’s top all-around players. Whether it is on the attack (witness her team-high 114 kills) on defense (94 digs) or with serve (15 aces), the Hereford native has an impact from just about anywhere on the floor. The only returning SLC player with two first-team all-conference selections in her portfolio, Daniel ranks in the league’s top 10 in three different categories — kills, aces and points.
Setting The Table
Junior DeeDee Strickland continues to prove herself as one of the top setters in the Southland Conference and in UTSA history. The League City native finished her sophomore campaign with 1,403 assists, an average of 12.09 per game which ranked third in the league. With nearly two years of eligibility left, Strickland already ranks fourth on UTSA’s career chart with 3,259 and needs just 10 helpers to catch Tamin Uthoff for third place. In her last outing, Strickland posted 73 assists in a 3-1 victory over UTA, two shy of her career high set in 2003. She ranks second in the SLC with 11.31 assists per game, close behind SFA’s J.J. Jones (12.05).
High-Percentage Hitter
Connie Picard, a junior middle blocker from Spring, has emerged as one of UTSA’s most consistent attackers over the past two seasons. After hitting just .208 as a freshman in 2003, Picard turned in a .252 hitting percentage last season with 351 kills and 144 errors on 823 total attacks. This season, Picard is attacking at a team-best .295 clip, a mark that ranks sixth in the league. Last week, she hit .500 with 15 kills in a 3-1 loss at Texas State and posted 19 kills and a .389 hitting percentage in a 3-1 win over UTA. Also the team’s top blocker, Picard has registered 25 total blocks including a season-high seven block assists in a 3-1 loss to Rice on Sept. 10.
Preseason SLC Accolades
In the Southland Conference Preseason Polls, UTSA is picked to finish third by the head coaches and fourth by the sports information directors. Stephen F. Austin is the favorite in both lists. Junior outside hitter Meagan Daniel, a two-time first team all-conference selection and SLC Player of the Year candidate, earned a spot on the Preseason All-SLC First Team, the only Roadrunner mentioned on the first or second teams.
NCAA Host Institution
The University of Texas at San Antonio continues its proud tradition of hosting NCAA Championship events with the 2005 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship coming to the Alamodome on Dec. 15 and 17. It will mark the first time UTSA, host for the 1998 and 2004 NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Fours and the 2002 Women’s Final Four, has hosted the volleyball championship. |
