Stephen F. Austin
North Texas
SFA Bottles Up Mean Green
9/16/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 16, 2008
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - It took a few days longer than expected, but the Ladyjacks opened up the 2008 home slate on Tuesday and did so in impressive fashion by knocking off the North Texas Mean Green 3-1 (25-16, 20-25, 25-20, 25-19) at William R. Johnson Coliseum.
The win is the eighth consecutive win for SFA (5-3) over North Texas (1-8), all since 1995.
Freshman MC Bottles was a model of efficiency in her first appearance in front of the home fans, hitting a robust .647 on the evening with 12 kills on 17 tries with only a single error. She was a force at the net as well, picking up eight block assists and having a hand in all but one of the SFA blocks on the night.
Seniors Lauren Railey and Shelly Swendig each picked up double-doubles, with Swendig picking up a match-high 14 kills and 13 digs. Railey finished with 12 kills and 10 digs, giving SFA three players in double-figures while only sophomore Amy Huddleston managed to reach double-figures with 14 kills for the Mean Green.
Overall, SFA hit .284 for the night - the highest hitting percentage for the Ladyjacks so far this year.
SFA opened up on fire, rolling to a 25-16 win in the first set on .286 hitting before North Texas found their groove in set two. The Mean Green went from .135 hitting in set one to .273 hitting in set two behind six kills from Huddleston, claiming the first win in a set for North Texas against SFA since 1997.
The third set saw offensive explosions from both teams, with each side hitting over .320. But SFA's combination of Swendig and Bottles put up 11 kills, and Amber Williams-Roberts added three more as she brought added firepower in the set to the SFA offense.
SFA took the lead early at 12-11 for good in the final set and ballooned its lead up to six at 19-13 on a kill by Bottles before North Texas rallied to pull within two at 20-18. But the Ladyjacks scored five of the final six points, including consecutive kills from Swendig to close it out.
SFA is back in action on Friday after having to shuffle the schedule due to the effects of Hurricane Ike. Originally the Ladyjacks were scheduled to take part in the University of Houston Tournament; however, due to the hurricane, SFA will now travel to Denton, Texas, to play three matches against UT-Pan American, UL-Lafayette and Texas Tech on Friday and Saturday at the University of North Texas.
The updated schedule can be found at www.sfajacks.com.
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