Stephen F. Austin
Southland Conference Tournament
Ladyjack Volleyball Falls To Lamar At SLC Tournament
11/17/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 17, 2000
Beaumont, Texas - In the first round of the Southland Conference Volleyball Championship, upsets were in order as No. 6 McNeese State swept No. 3 Texas-Arlington, 15-5, 15-13, 15-13, and No. 5 Lamar came back to beat No. 4 Stephen F. Austin, 14-16, 15-10, 15-1, 15-4, to advance to the semifinals at LU's Montagne Center.
McNeese (15-14) pulled the upset over UTA (18-11) behind the firepower of senior Anissa Parker, who put on a hitting clinic with 37 kills, which tied her school record single-match mark. Parker, a senior outside hitter from Bakersfield, Calif., tallied 14 kills in the first game followed by 11 then 12 for a hitting percentage of .414.
The Cowgirls dominated game one, running their lead to 7-0 before the Mavericks scored their first point on a block by Angela Anderson (Dripping Springs, Texas) and Trisha Walker (Dubuque, Iowa). Walker blocked Parker's attempt for the Mavs' second point at 10-2. Walker then got the next kill, which ignited McNeese's attack. The combination of Cowgirls' kills and Mavericks' errors helped McN cruise to the 15-5 win.
UTA came out in game two showing more confidence with better passing and hitting. McNeese didn't take the lead until 7-6 and no momentum was established for either team with the game tied at seven, eight, nine, 12 and 13. McNeese came from behind to win, 15-13, on UTA errors. Tracee Cole (Forney, Texas) was called for the double touch, then Amber Pack (San Antonio, Texas) had back-to-back hitting errors.
Facing elimination, UTA took control of game three by jumping ahead, 7-3. Pack, who had 26 total kills, came alive with 14 kills to pace the Mavs. But McNeese fought back to tie the game at seven, then go ahead on another Parker kill. The game stayed close before McNeese had match point at 14-13 as Parker again slammed home a kill. McNeese had seven match points and were stymied by three Walker kills. But Walker could only do so much, sending an attempt wide for the deciding point, 15-13.
In the regular season series, UTA won both contests, 3-2 and 3-0. The Mavericks' five-match winning streak comes to an end as does the collegiate careers of three seniors - Cole, Walker and Kisha Tucker (Amarillo, Texas).
The Cowgirls have now won three in a row and will face second-seeded Texas-San Antonio (20-8) tomorrow at 7 p.m.
In the nightcap, a pesky Lamar (23-10) gave SFA (18-13) a lot of trouble. In game one, the Lady Cardinals were down by seven points at three different times, but would not quit. They scored seven unanswered points to knot the game at 14 before SFA's Jennifer Wilson (Friendswood, Texas) got the sideout with a kill. After trading sideouts, the Ladyjacks' Jenny Orndorff (Arlington, Texas) and Kristy Rhodes (Cypress, Texas) teamed for a block and the 15-14 lead. They went back and forth five more times until an LU hitting error gave SFA the game, 16-14.
The Lady Cards, fired up by the home crowd, took game two on the strength of 10 block assists - four from Southland newcomer of the year Charyl Norwood (Bremerton, Wash.) and three from Urissa White (Austin, Texas). LU's greatest lead came at 8-3. Then the Ladyjacks rattled off five straight points to tie the game at eight. SFA's Julie Goodson (Alvin, Texas) evened the score at ten with a kill, but that's all her team could manage. Lamar used the block for three of its final five points for a 15-10 victory.
Game three was all Lamar as it thumped the Southland's defending tournament champion, 15-1. Norwood was overpowering at the net and led with six kills, adding to LU's .524 hitting percentage. The Ladyjacks' solo point came on a kill from Angie Wood (Houston, Texas) that tied the game at the beginning.
LU carried its momentum into the fourth game, again thwarting any SFA attack. The Ladyjacks never had an opportunity to get into a rhythm as the Lady Cardinals strung together points together, tallying six straight to go up, 11-2. With the score 11-4, Wilson had back-to-back hitting errors that were followed by a kill from LU's Shandra Zickler (Bandera, Texas) for match point. A Ladyjacks' timeout did not disrupt the host school as White aced Orndorff for the win, 15-5.
SFA, whose five-match winning streak was halted, loses one senior in Orndorff.
Lamar will face the top-seeded Southwest Texas Bobcats, who are riding a 23-match win streak, at 4:30 p.m. tomorrow in the tournament semifinals.
Thurs., Nov. 16 Results No. 6 McNeese State def. No. 3 Texas-Arlington, 15-5, 15-13, 15-13 No. 5 Lamar def. No. 4 Stephen F. Austin, 14-16, 15-10, 15-1, 15-4
Friday, Nov. 17 No. 1 Southwest Texas (29-3) vs. McNeese State (15-14), 4:30 p.m. No. 2 Texas-San Antonio (20-8) vs. Lamar (23-10), 7 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 18 Championship, 2 p.m.
