Stephen F. Austin
Texas Tech
SFA Gets By Texas Tech For Second Straight Year
9/12/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 12, 2009
TULSA, Okla. - Ashley Bailey led all players with 16 kills and six blocks and the Ladyjacks used a late push to get past Texas Tech 3-1 (25-19, 25-22, 23-25, 28-26) in the first match of the day on Saturday at the Tulsa Radisson Airport Invitational.
It is the second consecutive win for Debbie Humphreys' Ladyajcks (6-5) over her alma mater after having knocked off the Red Raiders (2-6) for the first time in her career last season in Denton, Texas.
Bailey was one of three Ladyjacks in double-figure kills as Melissa Miksch was right behind her with 13 and Mary Caitlin Bottles also had 12 with just one error. The Ladyjacks managed to reject 10 shots in the match, but Texas Tech stayed close by owning the net with 17 denials of their own.
Overall SFA only managed to hit .132 as a team, but that was still better than Tech's .059 mark for the match. Miksch picked up her third double-double of the year by adding 11 digs to her kill total, but it was Amber Williams-Roberts leading the team by keeping alive 19 balls while libero Madison Hanlan was not far behind with 17 digs as well.
SFA avoided the slow start early in the morning, using a 10-2 run midway through the first set to go from a 15-15 tie to clinching the set at 25-17 lead behind five kills from Bailey in the burst. The Ladyjacks held the Red Raiders to .065 hitting in the frame while swinging .281. Bailey led the way with six kills and Miksch adding four more and a block.
Miksch added another five kills in the second set and Bottles added four and two blocks as SFA went on another late run, this time a 5-1 surge when they were down 21-20 to rush past Tech take a firm hold on the match with a 2-0 halftime advantage.
In the third stanza the Ladyjacks looked to be in cruise control, going up 16-13 midway through the set on a kill from freshman Sabrina Burns. That forced a Texas Tech timeout and the Red Raiders found life coming out of the break, going on a 7-0 run before Bottles halted the rally with a kill to make it 20-17 in favor of Tech. Then it was the Ladyjacks going on a short run of their own to pull even at 21 apiece. But attack errors proved to be SFA's undoing in the third, as 10 misfires was enough ammunition for a Tech team that only hit .037 in the set to squeak out a 25-23 win.
Texas Tech carried the momentum from their third-set win into the fourth set, using Ladyjack mistakes and solid offense from Karlyn Meyers and Amanda Dowdy to build and early 10-5 lead. But SFA began to claw back midway through the frame, getting consecutive kills from Bottles and Bailey before Bailey and Paloma Buckner teamed up for consecutive blocks in a quick 4-0 run that pulled SFA to within three points at 16-13. Later on again it was Bailey as the go-to hand, putting down two more kills to trim the Red Raider lead to one at 17-16. But an attack error from Williams-Roberts gave the Red Raiders their first match-point opportunity at 24-20, which is exactly when the Ladyjacks began their final charge.
Williams-Roberts and Bottles scored on consecutive plays just before Miksch made it 24-23 in Tech's favor by finding the floor with her first ace of the morning. The Ladyjacks then forced Tech's Barbara Conceicao into a misfire just before Bottles and Buckner denied a try from Dowdy and gave SFA its first lead of the set and a match-point opportunity at 25-24. But the teams traded points until the final two points when Dowdy misfired again to give the Ladyjacks a chance that they were able to take advantage of when Buckner found Bailey for her 16th kill of the day.
The Ladyjacks get a few hours off before closing out the Tulsa Tournament with a 7:00 p.m. match against Gonzaga. The match can be followed live via Gametracker.
-SFA-
