Volleyball match at home tonight

SAGU hosts Mid-America Christian at 7pm

Kassy Cox earns RRAC Player of the Week

WAXAHACHIE, Texas  --  Tonight’s 7:00pm (CST) non-conference volleyball clash between the visiting Mid-America Christian University and Southwestern Assemblies of God University is a rematch of the season opener.

The Lady Lions took the best-of-five match, three games to one; 25-20, 22-25, 25-21 and 25-15. While the Lady Evangels outhit Southwestern, .224 to .192, the game was likely decided on defense and from the back line.

SAGU racked up a monster advantage in digs, 67 to 35, where junior libero Brittany Briggs (Maypearl, Tx / Maypearl HS) led three players in double-digits with 17 scoops.

Team Purp also had an 8-2 margin in service aces, with freshman Caitlin Paschall (Waxahachie, Tx / Midlothian HS) and Briggs firing four and two respectively.

The 'Big Three' hitters of Kassy Cox (Lufkin, Tx / Lufkin HS), Jessica Sodich (Ovilla, Tx / Ovilla Christian) and Caitlyn Hudson (Mansfield, Tx / Legacy HS) smacked 14, 13 and 10 kills. That was a prelude of their efforts leading up to tonight’s meeting.

Cox was set up 38 times, Sodich 37 and Hudson 24 by junior setter Taylor Calverley (Mansfield, Tx / Grace Prep), who finished with 31 assists. She is averaging 9.9 helpers per game.

Hudson, the team’s lone senior, hit .375 against MACU (MAK-you) by making only one hitting error.

Sodich begins play tonight with 16 double-doubles (kills and digs). Her 4.0 kills per game leads the RRAC.

Cox earned the league’s Player of the Week honors, her second straight nomination, for her performance against St. Thomas on Saturday. The middle blocker hit .531 with 21 kills in the 3-2 win over the Celts (13-9).

Hudson is enjoying an increase of 78 points in her hitting percentage and led the team in hitting until the outstanding performance by Cox in Houston.

SAGU enters play tonight with a 9-10 overall record. The squad has rolled to eight wins during their past ten matches and has advanced to fourth in the Red River Athletic Conference with a 3-1 mark.

They have 13 remaining matches, 11 at home. During the first 19 dates so far, the Lady Lions have played in the friendly confines of Sheaffer Center just twice.

Mid-America (15-7) reeled off six consecutive wins after the loss to SAGU. They improved to 12-4 before splitting their six most recent matches. The Lady Evangels are 2-4 in the Sooner Athletic Conference. In actual games, they are an impressive 48-32.

The Lady Evangels are #2 in the NAIA in blocking, averaging 3.3 rejections per game. They are also ranked #24 in total aces.

SAGU-MACU series since 2008

The Lady Lions won all three meetings in 2011, and are riding a four-game winning streak against the red-clad Evangels. MACU took both matches in 2010, after SAGU won five consecutive in 2008-2009 for a 9-2 series lead since ’08.

Tonight's match will be broadcast in HD

The match will be aired on SAGU TV by SAGU Sports Live. The pre-game show will begin at approximately 6:45pm, with host Rob Price and color analyst Tim Roberts and courtside reporter Bianca Alarcon.

Southwestern remains the only school in the NAIA to broadcast athletic events in authentic high definition and provide the service to viewers at no charge.

A detailed review of the action will be posted here tonight following the match.

Contact: Mark “Link” Warde, SAGU Sports Information Director, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or at 469-658-2847.

Team Comparisons

Team (Record) Attacking Percentage Serving
Aces-Errors		 Blocking
Solo-Assisted-Total		 Digs
Games-Digs-Per Game
Mid-America (15-7) .184 155-165 (-10) 77-370-447 80-1172-14.65
SAGU (9-10) .195 101-109 (-8) 34-118-152 70-1124-14.28

Players to Watch

Attackers Kills Kills Per Game Hitting Pct.
5 Jessica Sodich, SAGU 281 4.01 .194
8 Caitlyn Hudson, SAGU 218 3.11 .218
11 Kassy Cox, SAGU 175 3.18 .233
16 Becca Anderson, MACU 169 2.11 .294
33 Jordan Batley, MACU 124 1.55 .246
11 Renee Crockett, MACU 122 1.54 .088
12 Kacee Montgomery, MACU 121 1.51 .300
Setters Games Assists Per Game
9 Taylor Calverley, SAGU 68 673 9.90
14 Callie Colie, MACU 64 461 7.20
33 Jordan Batley, MACU 80 221 2.76
Serving Aces Errors
8 Caitlyn Hudson, SAGU 23 25
2 Emalee Smith, SAGU 22 14
10 Brittany Briggs, SAGU 20 27
33 Jordan batley, MACU 32 39
16 Becca Anderson, MACU 28 40
12 Kacee Montgomery, MACU 23 16
Digs Digs Per Game
5 Jessica Sodich, SAGU 249 3.56
2 Emmalee Smith, SAGU 202 2.89
10 Brittany Briggs, SAGU 188 2.69
11 Rene Crocket, MACU 194 2.46
2 Jenny Pratt, MACU 192 2.40
24 Taryn Walker, MACU 190 2.38
Blocks Solo Assisted Total
11 Kassy Cox, SAGU 6 27 33
9 Taylor Calverley, SAGU 5 25 30
6 JJ Abbott, SAGU 4 22 26
16 Becca Anderson, MACU 28 98 126
12 Kacee Montgomery, MACU 19 87 106
13 Priscila West, MACU 9 32 41

Note: Player jersey numbers are listed to the left of their name.