Stephen F. Austin
Texas A&M Corpus Christi
Daron Provides Spark As SFA Wins 13th Straight
10/15/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 15, 2008
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Arielle Daron got her first start in over a month and responded with eight kills and four blocks as the Ladyjacks hit .326 as a team and ran their win streak to 13 matches with a 3-0 (25-10, 25-14, 25-19) win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Wednesday night.
Daron's eight kills and four blocks were both career highs for the sophomore as she was part of a balanced attack that saw SFA (15-3, 6-0) have five players tally at least six kills and hold the Islanders (3-13, 1-5) to only .059 hitting on the evening.
The Ladyjacks remain the lone unbeaten team in SLC play and are now 40-2 since 2005 in Johnson Coliseum, the site of this year's Southland Conference Tournament.
Three kills apiece from Daron and Ashley Bailey led the way in the first set as SFA raced out to a 19-8 lead over the Islanders, before SFA scored six of the next eight points to finish it off. TAMUCC only managed to hit -.034 in the first set while SFA swung a cool .414 in the lopsided frame.
Set two was slightly closer, but with the same result. Bailey and Daron once again doled out three more kills and the Ladyjacks rejected four shots in the 11-point win. Things stayed close until midway through the set, when SFA scored eight out of 10 points to push the score to 19-11. SFA got kills from Kelsey Owens and Daron in their next point surge to get things to a match point before Owens dropped in an ace in the middle of the TAMUCC defense to send SFA into the half up 2-0.
The Islanders had their best hitting set of the night in set three, however it was only a .095 mark as opposed to SFA's .294. This time it was senior Lauren Railey landing five of her match-high nine kills in the set, and digging six of her match-high 16 balls as SFA waited until late in the frame to grab a firm lead. TAMUCC actually held a lead in the set as late as 14-15, but the Ladyjacks scored five of the next seven points and did not look back in closing things out by six on a kill by Owens.
Whitney Schott continued to direct the offense well as she dished out 32 assists in the three sets, and directed SFA to its fourth consecutive match hitting at least .325 and twelfth consecutive match hitting at least .204.
In addition to her eight kills, Bailey added six blocks, including one solo block and hit .462 on the night which was her eighth straight match hitting at least .435. Overall SFA outblocked the Islanders 7-2 on the night and finished with 39 kills to only 25 for TAMUCC.
SFA now travels south to San Antonio to take on UTSA at 2:00 p.m. on Friday. The Roadrunners had won 10 matches in a row, including a 3-0 start to SLC play, before falling in consecutive matches to Lamar and Sam Houston last week.
The Ladyjacks are next in action at home in a week when they host Sam Houston at 7:00 p.m. on October 22.
-SFA-
