Nov. 15, 2007

FRISCO, Texas - With a fourth consecutive Southland Conference title already wrapped up, the Ladyjack volleyball team saw four players land on the All-Southland Conference teams including Jami Hill being named Libero of the Year after the conference announced the selections on Thursday.

Traci Rohde, JJ Jones and Lauren Railey all received first team nods and on top of her individual honor, Hill landed on the All-SLC second team. It is the second consecutive year that SFA has put four players on the All-SLC team, and the third year in a row that three Ladyjacks have been named to the first team.

"It says a lot to have all three seniors on the All-SLC team," head coach Debbie Humphreys said. "All three of our captains were named to the first team and with Jami making the second team. It just says so much about how these seniors wanted to finish their careers."

For Hill, it is the first time that she has received any type of postseason honors after spending the majority of her career making significant contributions at a number of positions for the Ladyjacks. The 2007 season saw the Ladyjacks needing to find a replacement for All-America selection Stephanie Figgers, and at midseason Humphreys made the decision to insert Hill into the libero jersey and it has paid off. Hill averaged 6.37 digs per game in conference play and had over 30 digs three times on the year - twice in three-game matches.

For SFA, who is 13-2 with Hill as libero, it is the fourth consecutive Libero of the Year award the program has received. The honor was instituted in 2004 with Figgers winning the last three, but now Hill's name is there as well.

"I feel very strongly that Jami deserved the Libero of the Year award in the conference," Humphreys said. "She has sort of played in the shadows of others and played numerous positions and has not received individual recognition. I am so proud to see her get recognized for all that she does for our team."

Rohde is making her second straight appearance on the All-SLC first team, having been the Ladyjack's go-to player throughout conference play. The 6-2 senior finished second in SLC play in the league with a .375 attack percentage and also ranked in the top 10 in blocks and kills.

She finished the season strong, earning the final SLC Offensive Player of the Week honor of the season after leading the Ladyjacks to wins over UTA and Texas State last week. She tied a team-high for the season with 20 kills in the three-game win over the Bobcats.

After being named SLC Setter of the Year the past two seasons, JJ Jones morphed into a player that saw time at multiple positions in 2007. Jones earned her third consecutive nod on the All-SLC first team after seeing time as the primary setter for SFA and as a powerful outside hitter.

Jones registered three triple-doubles on the year and needs just 63 more assists to take sole possession of the all-time assists lead at SFA. She has already become the first SFA player to ever lead the team in assists in a season and record a season with 200 kills. She averaged 9.21 assists this season in SFA's 6-2 offense, and the combined numbers of Jones and freshman Whitney Schott - who Jones shared time with at setter - would rank as the top mark in the conference with 14.02 assists per game in SLC play.

The final Ladyjack to garner All-SLC honors is junior Lauren Railey who was slotted on the first team for the first time in her career. Railey was named SLC Freshman of the Year in 2005 and was a second team selection in 2006, but this year is a first team selection after leading SFA in kills, attacks and service aces.

Railey tallied at least 10 kills in 19 of the team's 32 matches on the year, including a 20-kill performance in a three-game win over UT-San Antonio. Her 13 double-doubles was tied with Jones for the most on the team and she finished the year ranked in the top 10 in SLC in kills, attack percentage and service aces in conference play.

"In my opinion I think Shelly Swendig also had an all-conference caliber year," Humphreys said. "But I think the balance of our team did not highlight that as well as it could have."

"Overall I'm still most excited about winning our fourth straight Southland Conference title and I think our best volleyball is still ahead of us."

The Ladyjacks finished up the season 25-7 and 15-1 in the SLC. SFA will begin the SLC Tournament in San Antonio on Friday at 6:30 p.m. against the host, UTSA.

There will be a fan bus that will travel from the SFA commuter parking lot on Saturday morning for the semifinals and will return following the championship match on Sunday.

-SFA-