Oct. 18, 2000

CONTACT: Mandy B, Sciba

NACOGDOCHES, Texas -- The Stephen F. Austin State University Ladyjack volleyball team has made its mark in the national rankings this season. Both as a team and individually the Ladyjacks are listed among the best in the nation and their conference.

Junior, middle blocker Kristy Rhodes has dominated the Southland Conference for weeks now as the hitting percentage and kills leader . Rhodes has been a force at the net producing 365 total kills and a hitting percentage of .370. Ahead of her conference opponents by 172 kills, she has catapulted herself into the national statistics as eighth in the nation for kills.

Junior, setter Marissa Dorcheus has also been a force on the court for the Ladyjacks. Dorcheus has led the Southland Conference in assists with 950 during the 2000 season (14.84 per game). Nationally, Dorcheus has been ranked third for assists. She finished the 1999 season ranked fourth in the nation for assists with 1,645.

Other Ladyjacks ranked in the conference statistics include sophomore, middle blocker Jennifer Wilson and senior outside hitter Jenny Orndorff. Wilson has been ranked 12 for hitting percentage with .248 and seventh for blocks with 49/0.89pg. Orndorff has been ranked 12 for service aces with 20 and ninth for digs with 216/3.48pg.

As a team the Ladyjacks are making their mark on the "Conference Leaders List." Stephen F. Austin has been listed in the top five in four of the seven conference statistical categories. Those categories include (2nd) hitting percentage with .239, (1st) kills with 1134, (2nd) assists with 1040 and (5th) match win-loss percentage with .550. Nationally, the Ladyjacks have clinched the 20th spot for team assists with 860.

For more information about these statistics please visit the NCAA web page at: www.ncaa.org and the Southland Conference web page at: www.southland.org.