2017 Senior Tributes: A List of Memories

During the last several weeks of the regular season, I began to notice something around the gym and on campus.  I was having far more truly meaningful interchanges with coaches, players, parents and other fans in general.  A season was winding down and that meant that athletes that who had poured years of themselves into this wonderful sport were winding down the year and winding down entire careers.  It's a strange combination of human emotion to feel celebration, transition, finality and yes, even a sense of loss, all wrapped up together.

Some of the blurbs below were written before the 2017 Southland Conference Tournament began.  Some were written in my head a while back and actually typed out during the tournament and a few of them were created in early mornings or on late nights during the weekend in Corpus Christi.  The meaningful interchanges this weekend have continued.  I've had some great professional conversations with the folks I work with from the Southland Conference.  Following practice on Thursday, I got to walk to the bus with Debbie Humphreys while having such a spirit of camaraderie in the discussion.  Of course, the many interactions with coaches and players are always so energizing and uplifting to me.

But what blows me away - I mean just totally blows me away - is when a parent or relative of a player just walks up to me and introduces themselves.  Or, in the case of a few instances this weekend, they reintroduce themselves and share a moment of thanks and reflection on my coverage or attention shown their team or athlete.  The sincerity and kindness that I so much don't deserve is so humbling and meaningful and this weekend it has been non-stop.  I've met so many new people and had so many positive interchanges about volleyball. I am grateful for each of these conversations and the willingness of others to encourage.  Someone asked me yesterday the age old question:  "Why do you do this?"  I couldn't field an easier question to reply to.  Passion manifests itself in commitment.  Life is better when it's not about you.  Your accomplishments are NEVER, and I mean NEVER, diminished when you cast attention on the accomplishments of others.  The game is big enough and there is enough joy to go around.  With all these stories to tell, how could I NOT do this?  This sport, this league, these schools and these athletes need stories told for them.  Life's better with stories!

So, for the third year now, I give you ten (plus one) vignettes in honor of our 2017 Seniors around the Southland Conference.  In most cases, I've included a link to a conversation that I've been fortunate to have with them.   These athletes are listed in alphabetical order by their last names.

Bailey Banks (HBU)

The athleticism just flows from Banks and she plays as though it is effortless.  Arguably, when you look over her 2017 numbers she had a good a season as any outside hitter in the league. Considering all games played this season, she was tied for 3rd in kills per set, 6th in attack percentage, tied for 2nd in digs per set and tied for 6th in blocks per set among all outside hitters.  No other player at her position ranked in the top 6 in all four of those categories.  Banks was part of a formidable front line at HBU for many years and was one of those players that could single handedly control a match. She won Newcomer of the Year in her sophomore season and continued to pile up honors during her final two years on the court including finishing runner-up to Player of the Year Samantha Anderson this year in the league voting.  I'll always remember that during her junior season I got to do an interview with her outside Sharp Gym on the day that the Huskies were having a team pumpkin carving contest.  The league loses a few heavy arms this year and Banks is right there at the top of the list.  HBU had a TON of players that I have long admired graduate this year (keep reading) and so I'll truly miss getting to witness Banks skills.

Banks Video Interview in 2016

Lexus Cain (SFA)

The Ladyjacks lone senior.  But oh, what an impact Lexus made on the league and on SFA.  If not for Kate Klepetka at Texas A&M Corpus Christi, Cain would have some Libero of the Year plaques hanging on her walls for years to come.  But you know, the ever humble Cain never openly seemed bothered by that. Lexus is so articulate and soft spoken.  She always deflected praise to her teammates and coaches and it would be absolutely impossible to come away from a set of conversations with her without being impressed.   Because her personality wasn't flashy, I took it upon myself a few times on social media to really start lobbying for more attention to be thrown her way.  She so deserves it.  She finishes 5th all time at SFA in total digs and that is saying something given we are basically Libero University.  You don't play Libero at SFA for three years unless you are a ridiculously good defender.  I'm just going to say it because it's true:  Our standards for that position are higher than most other teams.  Stephanie Figgers, Maddie Hanlan, OJ Olson. Go look them up.  Without any question, SFA has had the most consistently dominant set of back row players in the Southland over the last 10-15 years.  Cain fits in with that group perfectly.  One of the things that I'll always be so proud of Lexus for is really stepping up in her final few matches for SFA.  Down the stretch in 2017, Cain was absolutely clutch.  She's just 5'5", but whoever straps on the off-colored jersey for us in 2018 and beyond has big history to look up to.  The legacy of the libero at Stephen F. Austin was continued with Lexus on our side.

Cain SFA Senior Interview in 2017

Adison Giambrone (McNeese)

For years, the Cowgirls have had athletes that haven't garnered the limelight of the conference's attention but that have some intangible quantity that makes them such a pleasure to follow. During the years, I've found a few from McNeese to follow: Nicole Bowden, Sarah Cartie, Malina Sanchez, Priscilla Massengale, and Kelly Graham, just to name a few.  Add another unsung hero to the list.  Giambrone always got the absolute best out the vessel that God gave her.  Setter, DS, Libero.  McNeese was able to shift and slide her around to fit whatever need they had for a particular stretch of games.  This year, they decided she should tag team with Alexandra Aguilera at setter and she adjusted back once again.  Hustle.  Aggressiveness.  All with an infectious smile.  I love it when athletes "play happy" and Giambrone radiated this sense of postiveness and encouragement to teammates every time I saw her play.  I am happy to highlight her contributions here.  Many of the names on this list won multiple honors, but teams are what count.  I am sure that Ashleigh Fitzgerald would take a team full of Adison Giambrone's in the future.  It's not always what's on the stat sheet that counts.  Another thing you need to know: She graduated cum laude from McNeese before her senior season and has been working on her MBA since.  Stop and think about that for a while.  Division 1 athlete.  Master's program.  You know what you are looking at here?  Someone primed for lifelong success.  When McNeese has the tournament run that ACU has had in 2017 - and its coming - don't forget about the example provided and road paved by players like Adison Giambrone.

Blair Gillard (HBU)

What am I supposed to do now?  Some players have a defining set of moments that just immediately draw you into following their careers.  Pretty much EVERYONE that reads even casually here or that has had league-focused discussions with me over the last few years knows that Gillard was essentially my favorite non-SFA player in the conference. Here is the defining moment:  October 11, 2014. In route to going undefeated in league play, SFA sweeps HBU in Houston.  This was the first radio broadcast I had done from Sharp Gym.  HBU trots out this energetic  6'1" athletic freshman middle blocker.  I had studied up.  I knew her name, but hadn't seen her play live.  At one point, Gillard teams up with a pin blocker to stuff SFA's right side attack straight down to the floor.  I am sitting just a few feet off the sideline calling the match and Gillard turns to celebrate the block and lets out this fierce yell like five feet from my face.  That was it.  I was hooked.  "I'll have what she's having" I remember thinking.  No one could celebrate a big point like Gillard and I totally loved it.  It wasn't all show, though.  93 blocks as a freshman, 128 as a sophomore, 168 (you read that right) as a junior and 147 as a senior?  Are you FREAKING kidding me? Read those numbers again.  That 168 tally in 2016 is the Southland Conference single season rally-scoring era highest total in history.  Dude.  Bummer.  No more Blair Gillard?  I'm heartbroken.  What am I supposed to do without this pure dominance and fierce disposition no longer on the court?  It isn't fair.  Gillard should be cloned, kept young and allowed to play every year.

Blair Gillard Audio Interview From 2015

Brittany Gilpin (AMCC)

Map maker.  That's what Gilpin is.  Do realize how bad Texas A&M Corpus Christi volleyball used to suck?  When they first came into the Southland they were awful.  I could tell you some stories (not in this space) of things I witnessed when the Islanders played SFA in the early days that would make your ears burn.  Undisciplined, disorganized, chaotic.  But, Brittany Gilpin is 180 degrees opposite of all that.  Disciplined.  Gifted. Organized. Intelligent. Humble.  DOMINANT.  In terms of players, Gilpin put Islander Volleyball on the map.  The program on the island is now established and well respected as opposed to trampled on like cigarette butt thrown out on the highway from a speeding 18-wheeler.  No doubt that coaches have played a role in their transformation, but in terms of players, Brittany Gilpin deserves the lion's share of credit.  Watch the video at the link below after Gilpin's Islanders won the 2016 SLC Tournament.  Notice her disposition, maturity and countenance.  Such a pro.  Then, take a look at when 600+ win coach Brenda Gray can't wait to pay her respects and interjects her praise while we are taping. It was an awesome moment. Gilpin could do it all.. score with efficiency, block, dig, lead her teammates... everything. While discussing All-Conference possibilities with coaches and others around the league this year I had several people tell me that even though Gilpin might not repeat at Player of the Year in 2017 that if they were drafting players from Southland schools to start a team that she and teammate Kristyn Nicholson would be their first two picks. That says a lot.  There was not a single time - not one time - that I wasn't impressed with how Brittany Gilpin carried herself around the court - win or lose.

Gilpin Video After Islanders Win 2016 SLC Tourney

Corrine Grandcolas (ACU)

I'm writing this player memory a few hours before the championship game of the 2017 SLC Tournament.  I had never met Corrine Grandcolas until yesterday.  Yep.  Yesterday.  She's the bonus "11th" player on this list that traditionally has had ten seniors on it. Rarely, very rarely, you talk to someone for the first time for 10 minutes and they just completely catch you off guard with how impressive they are.  I cannot recall in nine years of writing at this blog ever talking to a non-SFA player and hearing what I heard yesterday. Grandcolas was so poignant, so humble, so articulate, so mature, so full of gratitude, so impressive that she had to be a postscript on this list.  I've known her name since she was a freshman. I read all the player bios in the conference every year.  But yesterday, I got a glimpse of a person.  Not a bio. Not a stat sheet that I am so fond of.  An individual.  A quality one.  It didn't take years of playing volleyball to make me a Corrine Grandcolas fan.  It took ten minutes sitting at a table in a hotel lobby.  Her interview will be the moment I treasure the most in this tournament.  Without her knowing it, listening to her healed part of the hurt that has been in my brain and heart since SFA drove home and I once again was left at the tournament without my team to root for.

Grandcolas Audio Interview at 2017 SLC Tourney

Megan Nash (UCA)

Doesn't it feel like Megan Nash has been at UCA forever?  Like Cain and Grandcolas above, Nash is the only senior on her club.  The Canadian who found her way to Conway, Arkansas of all places has been a fixture in the UCA lineup all four years in uniform.  Along with Gilpin, Nicholson and Wooten, she was one of only four three-time All-Southland Conference honorees that we had this year.  Nash's three honors were all first team selections. She won the prestigious 2015 Southland Conference Student Athlete of the Year Award.  She has averaged over 100 blocks a season during her four year tenure. Probably the most impressive thing about Nash is that everyone knows her.  Yes, Anderson won Player of the Year this year, but when I asked other coaches about how to strategize about UCA, the first person they talk about is Nash. That's because she's so consistent and so respected. Other players watch and emulate her.  Did you hear Madeleine Doud (Texas A&M Corpus Christi) in the interview we did during the 2017 tournament?  She referenced "watching Nash all the time".  I've heard that countless times while talking to players.  It's quite possible that she is the most respected senior on this entire list in terms of her longevity and ability to play at a high level so consistently.  When I sat down to make a list of seniors that I was going to write about for this post, Megan Nash's name was the first player I wrote down.  It's a big deal when an outside hitter tallies 1000 kills for a career.  Going into the championship match in the 2017 tournament, Nash - as a middle blocker - had 847 kills for her career.  That couples with 429 blocks, 112 aces and over 1200 total points to cement her as one of the greatest middle blockers in recent Southland history.

Nash Video Interview Early in the 2017 Season

Kristyn Nicholson (AMCC)

Quite succinctly,  one of the best setters in the history of the Southland Conference.  I've been following SLC Volleyball since 1999, but more seriously since I began working for our club in 2006.  With my own two eyes, I am certain that Nicholson is one of the Top 4 setters I have ever seen represent the Southland Conference.  JJ Jones (SFA), Marissa Collins (UCA) and Adrienne Meengs (Lamar) are the other three that just jump into my mind. Since Meengs, no setter I have ever seen was a better attacker than Nicholson.  Nicholson was credited with 467 total attacks this season - that's 3rd on her club.  Her count of 179 kills for the year was more than twice the tally of the average starting setter in the conference.  Skilled at short, quick sets, accurate as a bullet with traditional pin sets, beautiful back sets to the right, laser accurate shoots, on the run, standing still, overhead, bump sets..... it didn't matter.  Nicholson literally had no deficiencies in terms of getting her attackers the ball.  I heard about her when she was senior in high school.  A former SFA player that was coaching club texted me about her coming to AMCC. Before watching her play for the first time, I went back to that former SFA player and ask:  Is she really that good?  I am going to cover the match and am studying the Freshmen".  All I heard on the other end of the phone was laughter.  "Just watch" I was told.  I did.  Some athletes just instantly strike you with their talent.  For four years, Kristyn Nicholson impressed and impressed and impressed.

Nicholson Video Interview in 2017

Jordyn Vaughn (Sam Houston)

You know those big ice lockers that are out in front of every convenience store where you can just reach in and grab a bag of ice for your party and then go inside and pay at the counter?  Due to the massive number of attacks she rung up, I'll bet that's what Jordyn Vaughn asks for at Christmas.  "Vaughn's Convenience Store and Ice Shack".  It has a nice ring to it.. as in.. "we will conveniently carve you up with 20 kill nights and send you crying back home on the bus".  Vaughn needs the ice locker because she's AVERAGED just shy of 1000 attacks per year.  I knew she hit a ton, but when I figured out that she finishes her career with 3977 total attacks I was aghast.  That's an average of 994 attacks per season for four years.  The Bearkats have pretty much always had big arms in their lineup and Vaughn's 1000+ career kills permanently etch her name into SHSU legacy. Considering the entire 2017 season, Vaughn led all Southland players in kills per set and is one of only three hitters this year to amass over 400 kills. She upped her kill count every year while playing in orange.  During the year, I'd chuckle when talking about the Bearkat offense.  Most teams run a "5-1" or "6-2" offense and I'd always say that Sam Houston ran a "3-1" offense referring to Vaughn, Brooke White and Taylor Cunningham. as those three totaled exactly 3000 of the 4004 Bearkat attacks this season.  Then again, it's one thing to score.  It's another thing to score when the other team knows exactly where it is going. What a player.  Vaughn will henceforth order every drink at a restaurant in her life with extra ice.  Congratulations on an awesome career, Jordyn.  You carried the torch of great attackers at Sam Houston with dignity and grace.

Vaughn and White Video Interview From 2016

Brooke White (Sam Houston)

Of course, White and Vaughn are alphabetically next to each other on this list.  What else would you expect?  The "stat twins" are inseparable.  White and Vaughn put up numbers so similar that they even tallied their 1000th career kill in the same match. In 2016, White and Vaughn were so alike that both their kill and error totals were each separated by just 13.  Freaky!  They BOTH went over 400 kills in that year and White continued to add to her stellar resume in 2017.  White is really strong.  Her muscular frame allowed her to just absolutely rip balls from anywhere on the floor.  That's something that I'll always remember about her.  She was never afraid to let it fire at full force from well behind the 10-foot line. In addition, White was an excellent floor defender.  In her final match she reached 1000 digs for her career.  The duo of 1000 kills and 1000 digs had only been done 13 (there's that number again!) times previously in Bearkat history.   I'll never forget the first time I saw White play live.  Once or twice a year, if SFA doesn't have a home game that I need to work, I'll drive to another SLC school close to Nacogdoches to watch a match.  SHSU was playing Northwestern State during Brooke's freshman year.  I was there to watch Devaney Wells-Gibson and Stacey DiFrancesco go head-to-head.  That night, both those girls hit under .100 and this 5'8" freshman for Sam Houston was tearing it up hitting .375 and putting down double figure kills.  I turned to the couple sitting down the row from me and asked "Who is that #12?"  Wouldn't you know it - it was her parents!  White's Mom kindly replied with her name and that she belonged to them.  We got into a short conversation and I drove away that night thinking 'Thank You God' for keeping me from asking the question in the way that surfaced in my head - which was "How in Hades is this short girl freshman scoring so much against this big front line?"  Eventually, I answered my own question by watching White play through the years.  Some years ago, I used to tease Brenda Gray about her then two headed offensive monster duo Carli Kolbe and Anna Ferguson.  When writing, I called it the "Annacarli" as a play on the word "anaconda".  There is a story in the Bible in Joshua 3 about "Crossing the River Jordan".  In the most non-sacrilegious way possible, I say we amend the name a bit and remember this duo at Sam Houston as "Crossing the Brooke Jordyn" in honor of all the crossing shots that found the floor during the last four years.

Vaughn and White Video Interview From 2016

Jessica Wooten (HBU)

I am so glad that Wooten came back for her Senior season after missing all of last year with an injury.  It gave all of us the chance to see her complete skill set one more time.  Wooten was truly the definition of "6-rotation player".   Here's a stat you didn't know from 2017.  Considering all games played, Wooten led all outside hitters in the conference in BOTH digs per set (3.54) and blocks per set (0.53).  On a team that saw Bailey Banks tally over 400 kills, Wooten was still able to finish 7th among all outside hitters in kills per set at right at three per frame.  I've made a big deal in this post about the 1000 kill plateau for outside hitters.  Wooten almost got to 1500!  Wooten's total of 1467 kills and 1373 digs is just flat out insane.  That combination of digs and kills is far and away the highest combined total of any senior leaving the conference this year.  Despite all the honors and awards during her years in Houston, I still tend to think she is underrated.  Let's just repeat this for emphasis:  In Wooten you have a six rotation player that amassed over 2800 combined kills and digs and in her senior year blocked at higher rate than any other outside hitter.  Yesterday, in the semifinal loss to Cinderella ACU, she posted 30 digs in four sets.  If the Southland Conference put out its own "Volleyball Dictionary" and you looked up "six rotation outside", there'd  be Wooten's bio photo in the margin.

Wooten Video Interview at the 2015 SLC Tournament

In addition to those mentioned above, the following list rounds out the 27 seniors that played in the Southland Conference this year:

HBU: Hailey Erickson and Laura Fox

UIW: Hope Kelley, Sarea Alexander, Madison Williams and Bryaunea Hall

Lamar: Amy Hollowell and Haley Morton

McNeese: Rae Myers and Jenny D'Alessandro

UNO:  Rondolyn Bryant

Nicholls: Emily Weimer, Stephanie Tobison and Sydney Lerille

Northwestern State: Kylie Spencer

AMCC: Madeleine Doud

Congrats to all of the above for your dedication and perseverance.

...and special congrats to SFA's redshirt-junior that is an academic senior and finishes her career at SFA:  Sam Rodriguez.. so glad we got to honor Sam at "Senior Day".

Links to Interviews Done During 2017 SLC Tournament

This page will be updated as new interviews are posted and scheduled throughout the 2017 Southland Conference Volleyball Tournament

Sunday, November 10

VIDEO:  Elizabeth Armstrong, Central Arkansas (Tournament MVP)
VIDEO:  Jeni Jones Chatman, Central Arkansas

AUDIO:  Samantha Anderson, Central Arkansas
AUDIO:  Abbie Harry, Central Arkansas
AUDIO:  Megan Nash, Central Arkansas

Saturday, November 18

VIDEO:  Jeni Jones Chatman, Central Arkansas
VIDEO:  Jacey Smith, Abilene Christian

AUDIO: Corrine Grandcolas, Abilene Christian
AUDIO: Angela Mooney, Abilene Christian
AUDIO: Haley Tippett, Central Arkansas

Friday, November 17

VIDEO:  Madeleine Doud, Texas A&M - Corpus Christi
VIDEO:  Savanah Allen, Central Arkansas
VIDEO:  Lorin McNeil, Abilene Christian

AUDIO:  Haley Tippett, Central Arkansas
AUDIO:  Trent Herman, Houston Baptist
AUDIO:  Angela Mooney, Abilene Christian

Thursday, November 16:

VIDEO:  Channing Burleson, Northwestern State
VIDEO:  Samantha Anderson, Central Arkansas

AUDIO:  Shanna Spree, McNeese
AUDIO:  Hannah Brister, Northwestern State
AUDIO:  Jeni Jones Chatman, Central Arkansas

9th Annual SFA VolleyBlog.net All Conference Teams

FOR UPDATES AND REACTIONS TO OFFICIAL LISTS....SCOLL TO THE BOTTOM

If you scroll to the picks, argue with me and don't read the following paragraphs and bullets then don't expect me to listen to you for very long.

·        This list was published before the official All-Southland Conference teams.  This was published on Monday, November 13.  The conference released the official lists on Wednesday, November 15 (edit:  Tuesday, November 14.. they released it a day earlier!).

·        I don't do this the way the conference does.  I have claimed for years - staunchly - that coaches have WAY too much control over the official lists.  Get a coach or SID to explain to you how they vote, then go read the tiebreaker rules for conference tournament seeding, then ask me for a syllabus to an advanced calculus class and you decide for yourself which procedures are most unduly complex.

·        I view these as individual awards, not team awards.  I outright reject the reasoning that the order of the standings should dictate how many picks should show up on these lists or that the Player of the Year, Setter of the Year, Coach of the Year, etc. HAVE TO or SHOULD come from the best teams.  If you want to see what a team award looks like, click here or here.  We are honoring INDIVIDUALS here.

·        I am a numbers person.  I teach statistics for a living.  I take notes, talk to coaches, SID's, use my impressions when SFA plays opponents, but in the end we here at the blog live my one mantra:  In God We Trust.  All Others Bring Data.  Numbers matter.. a lot. If you don't like statistical analysis in sports, then your picks won't look anything like mine. I'm happy to defend my reasoning.  Just know you are going to get numbers, if you ask.

And now for the stuff that  I have written for 8 straight years but still need you to know if you are reading this:

Like in previous years, I suspect I will periodically comment on this article over the next week.  People love to debate this stuff and I'm fine with that.  After all, trying to decide who to honor is a noble pursuit and I can appreciate the passion that other fans have for their picks and reasons.  I will indicate updates at the bottom of the post with boldface time stamps.  

Recall,  I actually pick "teams". The conference does not do this. Typically, the conference puts 12 girls on the first team, six girls on the 2nd team and has 6 to 9 girls listed as honorable mention for a total of 24 to 27 girls recognized. I will have three teams of seven for 21 girls honored and then a list of the players I considered for the lists and "just missed".

As I have said each of the last eight years: "There are seven starters each night for any particular team, so we will pick seven girls per team. Each team is required to have a setter, libero, two middle blockers, two hitters and a seventh player that can either be MB or OH."

2017 SFA VolleyBlog.net All-Southland Conference Teams and Awards:

First Team:

RS Samantha Anderson, UCA

OH Haley Coleman, SFA

OH Bailey Banks, HBU

MB Taylor Cunningham, SHSU

MB Blair Gillard, HBU

S Kristyn Nicholson, AMCC

L Channing Burleson, NSU

Second Team:

OH Brittany Gilpin, AMCC

OH Jessica Wooten, HBU

RS Danae Daron, SFA

MB Kaitlyn Grice, UNO

MB Megan Nash, UCA

S Elizabeth Armstrong, UCA

L Lexus Cain, SFA

Third Team:

OH Reagan Rogers, NSU

OH Jordyn Vaughn, Sam Houston

OH Brooke White, Sam Houston

MB Shanna Spree, McNeese

MB Makenzee Hanna, SFA

S Ann Hollas, SFA

L Angela McGownd, McNeese

Just Missed (in order of position played):  OH Tomar Thomas (LU), OH Abbie Harry (UCA), OH Corin Evans (SFA), OH Autumn Lockley (UIW), OH Keegan Nelms (McNeese), MB Lauren Walker (ACU), MB Lorin McNeil (ACU), Kayla Davenport (HBU), MB Sarea Alexander (UIW), S Jaclyn Ward (Sam Houston), L Madison Woods (AMCC), RS Madison Green (AMCC)

Player of the Year:  Samantha Anderson, UCA

Setter of the Year:  Kristyn Nicholson, AMCC

Libero of the Year:  Channing Burleson, NSU

Newcomer of the Year: No Pick

Freshman of the Year:  Lorin McNeil, ACU

Coach of the Year:  Debbie Humphreys, SFA

Yes, I agonized over my Player of the Year pick.  Yes, I almost just picked co-Players of the year and bailed out.  Yes, I have a defense of picking a three rotation player for the honor.  Yes, the conference has had three rotation players win the award before.  Yes, this year was weird compared to others in recent memory.  All of this is going to be addressed in an update tomorrow.

In my opinion, the following four players are candidates for 2017 Player of the Year:  Anderson, Coleman, Nicholson and Banks.  If I were voting the way the coaches do (which again, is really bizarre) my ballot at the top would be:

1. Anderson, UCA

2. Coleman, SFA

3. Nicholson, AMCC

4. Banks, HBU

5. Gilpin, AMCC

..and no, I don't see those five as terribly far apart.

_____________________________________________________________

UPDATES AND REACTIONS

Update:  Tuesday, November 14 11 PM:

The official SLC All-Conference lists got released a day earlier than normal.  For the third straight year, I am super impressed with the voters.  I thought the official choices were outstanding and the fact that the conference as a whole picked Anderson will reduce my line of defense that I had planned for this space.  Instead, let me mention a few things that came to mind late last night and during the day today as I contemplated things, talked to people around the league and read social media and emails:

• Just to be 100% clear:  I ALWAYS post my lists AFTER the league has finished voting and BEFORE the league announces the official winners.  Someone - in a very erroneous, yet flattering way suggested that I might have influenced the actual voting.  My response to that is:  "As If".  I do discuss this stuff with the folks at SFA and I do keep in regular contact with various coaches and SID's, but I can assure you, I never release my lists to coaches/SID's before they are printed here and I laugh at the postulate that I would influence a coach making picks.  That just isn't going to happen.  But, just to be above board, I wait until the voting is closed before I post.  The voting closed Monday at Noon.  I posted my lists Monday at 10 PM.

• All 18 of the official first and second teamers honored by the conference made my top 3 teams. That's the first time that has ever happened.  Usually there are one or two major differences that I get to rant about in follow-up posts.  I feel cheated that I don't get that chance.  Hahahaha. (Jessica Pancratz, 2012, anyone??)  In fact, I call this the "Pancratz Principle" when I talk about it with others... I don't get to apply the Pancratz Principle in 2017 due to all the agreement.

• The conference top 5 were my top 5... just in a different order.

• Blair Gillard should be higher on the official lists.  Then again, everyone knows I am President of the Blair Gillard Fan Club, so I am bound and sworn to vote for her for first team.

• Either Brooke White should be higher or Reagan Rogers and Jordyn Vaughn should be lower on the official lists.  Their stats show differences but if you proportionally weigh kills per set, attack percentage, digs per set, blocks per set and even factor in team strength (which I don't but I am led to believe most do), then their weighted contributions are basically the same.  I don't get the separation at all.  They are all great players, but I think people get a little carried away and overweight kills per set.  I'm giving away a post I am going to write later in the week, but let me tell you that the average starting outside (left side) hitter in the league hit .178 this year.  Rogers hit .160, Vaughn hit .177 and White hit .182.  Hmmmmmm.

• By the way, for the OH's.. I weigh offense at roughly 75% of the "score" and defense 25% of the "score".  Something close to that is what I mean by "proportionally weigh" in the paragraph above.

• The league once again is slightly biased against good players making the official lists from middle-to-end-of-the-pack teams .  Kaitlyn Grice put up numbers worth of better than Honorable Mention.  We, as a conference, need to stop this trend.  Makenzee Hanna is literally one of my favorite people and I am thrilled she got recognized on the 2nd team, but fair is fair:  Grice is the only MB is the conference to finish in the Top 6 at her position in kills per set, attack percentage and blocks per set.  Grice and Hanna had the same attack percentage.  Grice was 2nd in blocks per set for all MB's. Hanna was tied for 9th.  Grice was 6th in kills per set for all MB's.  Hanna was 10th.  Hanna was two slots from making first team and Grice didn't make either.  Conclusion:  Team Bias.  Once we figure out these aren't team awards we will have come a long way in improving the process.

• Fact you didn't know until now:  Every Southland player that finished in the Top 40 in the NATION in a "per set" statistic that goes along with their position got some sort of honor on the official lists...... except libero Angela McGownd of McNeese.  Don't worry McGownd.. I've got your back.

• I even got the "No Pick" right.  I, of course, wasn't aware - as the conference announced - that no newcomer had been nominated on the ballot at any school.  Then again, if we didn't have "nominations" it would guarantee that someone would win the award.  I didn't make a pick because I wasn't sure if certain players were eligible or not based on their transfer status.  Official voters are not allowed to vote for anyone they please.  Instead, they must vote only for the players than are nominated by head coaches.  This ridiculousness is also part of the "Pancratz Principle".

• You don't have to believe me, but on my original draft of the lists I had Hannah Brister of Northwestern State as my Freshman of the Year.  Sunday night, I looked at all the freshman again and changed it to Lorin McNeil in the final draft.  The other person I strongly considered was libero Madelyn Miller of UIW.

• More coming on this sort of stuff later.. but you probably know that OH's have higher kill per set numbers on average than right sides.  You probably also know the RS's have higher attack percentages on average than 6-rotation outsides.  What if I told you that I took all the data from both positions this year and created a correspondence between the two so that you could "adjust" for these facts... so that you could compare a RS to a 6-rotation outside on these two stats?  Haley Coleman's .268 is truly outstanding for a 6-rotation outside.  But, if you adjust Samantha Anderson's .338 and translate it down to the "OH attack percentage scale".. you know what you get?  This year .338 as a RS translates to .266 as an OH.  That says that Anderson's .338 is actually JUST AS REMARKABLE as Coleman's .268.  Now, if you scale Anderson's kills per set number of 3.44 up to the "OH kills per set scale", you get 4.16, which would EASILY lead the league.  Anderson's kills per set number is far more remarkable than Coleman's attack percentage when adjusting for position played. Not to mention Anderson led her position in all of blocks per set, kills per set, and attack percentage.  Not to mention Anderson was the only player in the league to finish in the Top 10 in both attack percentageand kills per set.  Not to mention Anderson was the only non-MB to finish in the Top 10 in blocks per set in conference only matches.

• For those that might have picked Bailey Banks over both Anderson and Coleman... you have a good case for sure.  Here's one that makes Banks shine over those two... if you define a "bad match" as 8 or fewer total points and a "great match" as 16 or more total points, then here's the tally: Bad Matches: Banks 4, Anderson 5, Coleman 7.  Great Matches: Banks 14 (!!!), Anderson 9, Coleman 6.

Sam Houston and SFA: Two Different Formulas

A lot has been made of SFA's balanced offense this year as the 'Jacks currently have amassed 24 wins, half of those in conference play.  SFA will earn of the top seeds in this years' Southland Conference Tournament and the same is likely to be said of the rival Bearkats from Sam Houston.  But these two teams couldn't be built more differently, especially on offense and that's what we are going to take a look at today.

To prepare for this post, I scanned the statistics of all 13 Southland Conference clubs and started by writing down the Top 5 kill leaders on each team.  Then, I computed percentage of kills that each of these players were responsible for on their respective teams.  In this way, we can easily find out which teams depend the most on just two or three attackers and which teams tend to spread the offense around a bit more.  Let's get right to the results:

First, let's look at the role of the primary attacker.  The average team leader in kills in the Southland Conference is responsible for 23.8% of her team's terminations.  Here's how Sam Houston's leader (Jordan Vaughn) and SFA's kill leader (Haley Coleman) stack up in the ranks of percent of kills for their team:

Percentage of Team Total Kills By Kill Leader:

1. Vaughn, Sam Houston, 30.5%

2. Rogers, Northwestern State, 28.4%

3. Banks, Houston Baptist, 27.6%

...

12. Haley Coleman, SFA, 20.0%

Southland Average: 23.8%

This immediately points out the fact that SFA is not anywhere near as reliant on Coleman as Sam Houston is on Vaughn.  This may be obvious to you, but it's our first piece of evidence - and a big one - that SFA's offense is truly spread around this year.  Looking at some numbers a different, way, Vaughn averages 11.3 attacks per set compared to Coleman's 8.3.  That's a full three opportunities per set higher for Vaughn which equates to over 10 per match on average.  For SFA, those extra 10-12 balls per match are distributed to other players.  Let this soak in a minute before we move on. SFA is tops in the league in attack percentage and has been in the top third in the conference in kills per set all season long by not relying on a single attacker.

But, we often talk about pin hitters (plural) as carrying a heavy load, so what happens when we expand the percentages above to include the top duos in the conference in terms of workload.  As you see below, the story doesn't really change.  In fact, it accents even more how heavily Sam Houston depends on fewer attackers than anyone in the league.

Percentage of Team Total Kills By Top Two Kill Leaders:

1. Vaughn and White, Sam Houston, 56.8%

2. Banks and Wooten, Houston Baptist, 50.3%

3. Rogers and Brister, Northwestern State, 46.1%

...

10. Coleman and Daron, SFA, 38.2%

Southland Average: 42.9%

There are lots of interesting things in this leaderboard as well.  First, notice that Sam Houston and Houston Baptist are the only two schools in the conference that get more than half of their team kills from two players.  Again, illustrating balance in the offense, notice that SFA is 10th of 13th here.  Again, the more spread around the offense is, the lesser these percentages tend to be when incorporating just the top two team leaders.  But, probably most interesting is that SFA is one of only four schools in the conference to have its second leading scorer not be an outside hitter. The other three are UIW (Sarea Alexander, MB and Breyauna Hall, MB, tied for 2nd), McNeese (Shanna Spree, MB) and AMCC (Madison Green, RS).

Sam Houston depends on getting 18% more kills from its top two attackers than does SFA.  To look at this another way, SFA has given 41% of the set balls to our two leading primary outside hitters to date (Coleman and Evans). Sam Houston has set Vaughn and White a whopping 57% of the time -easily the highest percentage in the league.  That 16% difference in those two numbers equates to roughly 550 to 600 balls that have been set to girls other than the two primary outside hitters for SFA.  That's a lot of sets!  Plus, once again it illustrates with numbers just how much more diverse our offense has become and just how different it is than Sam Houston's attack.

Now, to REALLY show you how top heavy the Bearkat offense is, let's repeat this one last time by calculating the percentages of kills earned by the top THREE kill leaders on each Southland team.  Look at how much higher the Bearkat percentage is that even the second team on this leaderboard!

Percentage of Team Total Kills by Top Three Kill Leaders:

1. Vaughn, White and Cunningham, Sam Houston, 77.6%

2. Banks, Wooten and Gillard, Houston Baptist, 63.6%

3. Rogers, Brister and Seaton, Northwestern State, 62.1%

...

10. Coleman, Daron and Evans, SFA, 55.1%

Southland Average: 59.2%

Wow!  That's 14% more kills from the top three at Sam Houston that the next closest clubs on that list.  There is a 22% difference between SHSU and SFA on this list and again SFA comes in 10th illustrating that we are way more than three deep in terms of who generates kills for our offense.  By the way, in case you are wondering about the teams that come out MORE balanced on offense than SFA:  None of the teams ranking more evenly distributed than SFA project to make the tournament with the exception of Texas A&M - Corpus Christi. What this tells me is that the balanced offenses in the conference either are offenses that just can't find girls to generate kills or have multiple weapons like AMCC and SFA. 

It should be noted here that AMCC's "balance" is not achieved in the same way as SFA's.  The Islanders balance comes when you look at the second through fifth leading kill generators.  Brittany Gilpin leads AMCC with 281 kills, which is a ton more than second place leader Madison Green at 160.  But look at what happens with AMCC when you look at #2-#5:  Green (160), Nicholson (148), Doud (138) and Moran (134).  That is VERY evenly distributed. So, the Islanders (obviously) have one strong attacker and then a ton of balanced looks behind her.

SFA's balance is achieved in its top 3 kill leaders and then the mega-efficient Makenzee Hanna behind them.  To wit, Coleman has 282 kills; Daron has 256 and Evans 239.  That's the primary balance for SFA.  Then you factor in Hanna who is our fourth leading terminator, but is hitting .357 to lead the conference.

There is another way that we can illustrate SFA's balanced offense in 2017. A measure called standard deviation can be used to measure the spread among a set of numbers.  The lower the standard deviation, the more consistent or more "bunched" a set of numbers are around the average.  The higher the standard deviation, the more spread or diverse a set of numbers are. 

When factoring in the top four attackers on each team, SFA's standard deviation ranks 9th in the conference.  Sam Houston has the HIGHEST standard deviation whether you factor in the primary three, four or five attackers on each team.  So, no matter how you slice it, the Bearkat offense is the offense that depends heaviest on its top three.  In fact, contributing to this highest standard deviation in the conference is the fact that SHSU is the ONLY team in the conference whose fourth leader in kills hasn't even tallied 100 terminations.  Madison Wallace is fourth on the Bearkats in kills with just 91.  Makenzee Hanna is 4th for SFA and has more than TWICE that many (186). In fact, among all 4th leading scorers in the conference only Megan Nash of UCA (214) and Alexis Warren of NSU (190) have more kills than Hanna.  Nash is hitting .319 while playing in the middle like Hanna.  Warren is an outside hitter with a .074 attack percentage.  Ouch.

To put a bow on this, Sam Houston's offense by either measuring percentages of kills by their leaders are spread in the Top 4 or 5 attackers is clearly the most dependent offense in the league on the fewest girls.  But, of course, the Bearkats have traditionally had offenses like this and it has served them well in 2017 as they come in to Saturday's match up in 3rd place and they project as a dangerous team to play in the postseason.

For SFA, their percentages of kills from their top kill generators rank below conference average - which is GOOD when trying to demonstrate that you have a balanced attack.  It means that you are LESS reliant on just two or three people to generate kills.  We were able to show SFA's balance by also calculating the spread in the kill totals for the SFA leaders and showing it is one of the lowest in the league.  This proves SFA has had a more uniform or even distribution of attacks compared to the league due to the low spread in these numbers. Sam Houston's standard deviation is much higher than any other Southland club.

With Sam Houston, you know what you are going to get:  A WHOLE LOT of Jordan Vaughn, Brooke White and Taylor Cunningham.  With SFA, one night it might be Haley Coleman leading the way.  The next night it could be Danae Daron or Makenzee Hanna.  Another night, Corin Evans might put up a double-double. Mixed in all of that is the chance for Peyton Redmond to get 10 kills like she did last night or maybe Anyia Williams will put up big numbers.

It is clear we have two different winning formulas for two different clubs.  Enjoy watching both of these teams in the final week of the season and in the Southland Conference Tournament.  It sure will be interesting to see which style of offense can succeed the most in November.