Yes! The season is finally here. The team flew into Chicago earlier today and then made their way over to the Northern Illinois University campus for a workout in DeKalb before kicking off the season Friday morning at 10:00 AM. You can follow all the action (4 matches in two days!) by utilizing Gametracker on the NIU Volleyball web page. The schedule for SFA Volleyball and for you as a fan are both about to get busy. After the matches on Saturday, make sure you are right back here at sfavolleyblog.net as we will be LIVE FROM HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS. We will recap the 'Jacks performance in DeKalb and then take you through an evening match between Louisiana-Lafayette and Sam Houston State. U La La will be our first home opponent next Wednesday, so most certainly - mark that on your calendar too. WE WANT YOU TO BE A PART OF THE HOME OPENER NEXT WEDNESDAY. Wear purple and be really loud. I am already stoked about piping out the starting lineups and point calls so we can get the Coliseum rocking next week.
We will get started with the LIVE BLOGGING on Saturday at around 6:00 PM. The LaLa/SHSU match is scheduled to start at 7:00. Last year, the Ladyjacks beat the Rajun' Cajuns twice - each time by a 3-0 sweep. Saturday, we'll get a chance to see if they have what it takes to put up a better fight this year.
We will be back on the SHSU campus later in the year for another live blogging experience when the Ladyjacks invade prison town for Southland Conference play. That match is slated for October 21. SFA's Strongest Presence on the Net will get over to our sister city of Natchitoches on November 5 and blog live from that conference tilt as well.
We've got you well covered, so gear up and get used to more frequent posts and information coming your way now that the season is underway. Also...make ABSOLUTELY SURE you are over at the Volleyball page at the SFA Athletics Site and also check out Ben Rikard's Blog here. You'll see our blogs' logo on the official site's page right below the button for Ben's Blog. We are definitely partners in covering the Ladyjacks. There is absolutely no doubt that between sfajacks.com, Ben's Blog and sfavolleyblog.net that we cover our club as well as any program around. We've added a link directly to Ben's Blog on our sidebar. Remember, that's also where you'll get to read Setter Laurel Kuepker's thoughts throughout the year. Don't miss it!
Next week we will get you introduced to the new freshman on our squad and will recap all the Southland Conference action on this opening weekend. We will also get you geared up for the home opener on Wednesday and the very high caliber Missouri State tournament which will follow next weekend.
You will also get to go to stats class with me for the first time as we introduce our 'Stats 101' feature to the blog. This will present a non-technical, but numerical look at at Southland Conference volleyball. We'll tackle topics that are informative and easy to digest...nothing fancy - everybody gets an A - it's just a glance at how numbers can help us understand the game just a bit better. I'll give you a preview: You'll learn which conference teams retained the majority of their court presence and which teams have the most to replace.
For now, make sure and join us Saturday night right here in this space as we scout two future opponents and tell your friends to be in Johnson Coliseum on Wednesday night at 7 PM!!
Finally, Happy Birthday wishes go out to assistant coach Erin McClanahan [pictured above]. Here's hoping she gets to celebrate after getting a few in the win column tomorrow!