Stephen F. Austin
Texas A&M Corpus Christi
SFA Takes Fifth Straight With Win Over Islanders
9/19/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 19, 2009
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - SFA won its fifth straight match on Saturday with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-19, 25-15) sweep of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in a non-conference tilt on the second day of the Ladyjack Invitational.
Again it was the middle blocking tandem of Mary Caitlin Bottles and Ashley Bailey that did the majority of the damage for the Ladyjacks (10-5) with 12 and 11 kills apiece, respectively. An improved Islanders (5-8) team under first-year head coach Tony Graystone managed to hold SFA to just .198 hitting on the afternoon, but SFA's defense was good enough to hold TAMUCC to just .109 hitting.
Paloma Buckner went over 30 assists for the fifth time in six matches and even had a hand in a career-high seven of SFA's nine blocks. The trio of Amber Williams-Roberts, Melissa Miksch and Madison Hanlan also each picked up at least 10 digs. But it was the service line that really provided the edge for SFA as the Ladyjacks dropped in eight aces, led by Hanlan's three, while the Islanders did not manage a single one.
SFA took the lead at 6-5 early on in the first set and never gave the lead back, following five kills from Bailey to the 25-18 lead. Corpus Christi put up little resistance in the second set as well, hitting just .158 as SFA took the second frame 25-19 behind six kills from Bottles.
In the third set the Ladyjacks cruised in similar fashion, getting four kills from both Bottles and Bailey and even seeing the return of outside hitter Kelsey Owens who went down with an injury in the season's opening weekend. Owens made her return midway through the set and landed a pair of kills, including the match-clinching swing off the hands of Islander hitter Emma Ridley.
The Ladyjacks close out the Ladyjack Invitational with a 7:00 p.m. match against Miami (OH) with the winner taking the tournament title. The Redhawks defeated the Ladyjacks last season in Oxford at their own tournament and have beaten Alcorn State and Houston in their two matches up to this point in Nacogdoches.
-SFA-
