Stephen F. Austin
Southeastern Louisiana
SFA Clinches No. 3 Seed With Sweep Of Southeastern
11/12/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 12, 2009
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Ladyjack volleyball team won for the fourth time in five matches and clinched the No. 3 seed in the upcoming Southland Conference Tournament with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-14, 25-18) win over Southeastern Louisiana on Tuesday at William R. Johnson Coliseum.
The win also gives SFA (21-12, 10-5 Southland) its 15th consecutive season with at least 10 league wins. The last time SFA won less than 10 matches within the Southland was in 1993 when only nine league matches were played.
It is also the 11th straight win for SFA over the Lady Lions (8-18, 4-11 Southland) dating back to 2003, and secures the season series that includes a 3-1 win in Hammond on October 10.
The Ladyjacks held Southeastern to just .067 hitting on the night, marking the 10th time this season SFA has held an opponent under .100 swinging, and aided the rout with .317 hitting of their own.
Mary Caitlin Bottles paced the offense with 10 kills and four blocks, hitting double digits for the third straight match, and four other Ladyjacks followed with no less than six in the three-set affair. Madison Hanlan led all players with 17 digs and Kelsey Owens just missed a double-double with nine kills and 11 digs.
Paloma Buckner helped out with 39 assists and Emily Franklin continued her late-season hot streak, burying seven kills with just one misfire on 15 tries.
SFA trailed early on in the first set before going on an 8-1 run to grab a 16-11 lead behind three kills from Franklin. After trading rallies SFA scored six of the final eight points of the set to go up 1-0, hitting .286 and holding Southeastern to just .026 swinging.
The second set saw Franklin give SFA the lead on her first swing and the Ladyjacks never gave it back, burying the Lions with a set-high .353 attack percentage. Ashley Bailey helped give the Ladyjacks some breathing room midway through the frame with a kill that sparked a 7-2 run that got SFA way out in front at 19-10 before it cruised to the finish line behind Sydney Milburn's serve.
The Ladyjacks came out of halftime on fire as well, racing out in front 8-2 with kills from Owens, Bottles, Bailey and Arielle Daron all finding the floor. Southeastern chipped away to get to within three on several occasions, the latest coming at the 18-15 point. But Bottles finished with five of her 10 kills in the final set, including one in a late 4-1 run that shut the door at 25-18.
SFA will honor its senior class of Ashley Bailey, Sydney Milburn and Paloma Buckner on Saturday in its final regular season match of the year. The Ladyjacks will be looking to avenge a loss at Nicholls earlier in the season at 3:30 p.m. with the seniors being recognized before the match.
-SFA-
