Stephen F. Austin
Central Arkansas
SFA Falls In Battle Of Southland Heavyweights
9/28/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 28, 2009
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Arielle Daron pumped in a career-high 19 kills and the Ladyjacks rejected 10 Central Arkansas shots, but errors got the best of SFA on Monday night as the Sugar Bears outlasted the Ladyjacks 3-2 (28-26, 22-25, 25-21, 17-25, 15-13) in a battle of Southland Conference heavyweights at Johnson Coliseum.
The Sugar Bears (14-2, 3-0 SLC) extend their win streak to 13 matches with the win, while SFA (12-7, 1-1 SLC) fell for the first time this season at home in seven tries. It was the second consecutive season UCA has come into Johnson Coliseum and left with a win. SFA is now 0-3 this season in five-set matches.
"I think what is disappointing is that we contained their two key hitters [Chloe Smith and Jessica Hays]," SFA head coach Debbie Humphreys. "We did what we needed to do defensively to win the match and we were more aggressive offensively, but in the end it was mental errors that cost us the match and that is unacceptable."
The service line was not kind to the Ladyjacks all night as SFA totaled 16 service errors for the night, including three in the final race to 15. SFA's defense held the league's top statistical offensive team to just .173 hitting, and actually outkilled the Sugar Bears 67-58 on less tries. Reigning Southland Conference Player of the Year Chloe Smith came in third in the nation in kills at nearly five per set and only managed 14 with nine errors on 52 tries, hitting only .096 on the night.
Daron was the consistent spark for SFA all-night with her career night, but Ashley Bailey was also right on her heels with another standout performance, totaling 17 kills and having a hand in five blocks. Kelsey Owens had her best night since returning from injury, getting a double-double with 16 kills and 15 digs and also four blocks.
Madison Hanlan and UCA's Cristin Curl each went over 20 digs in a battle of two of the league's top liberos as Hanlan finished with 21 and two service aces, while Curl finished with 25 of UCA's 72 digs.
The frustration started early for SFA, who led by as much as four points in the first set on their way to forcing the first of three set-point opportunities at 24-22; however, UCA's Taylor Hammonds got back-to-back kills to draw things even before the Sugar Bears eventually took their first lead of the entire set at 27-26 and cashed in on their only set-point try on a kill from Evaree Franklin.
But SFA responded again with more defense, holding the Sugar Bears to just .048 hitting in the second frame. SFA struggled offensively in the frame, hitting only .050 itself, but still managed to keep UCA at arm's length throughout the frame and this time closed the deal after a late rally from UCA to knot the match on a kill by Owens.
UCA finally held control throughout a set in the third as this time it was SFA that could not battle completely back after holding an early 6-3 lead. SFA never could get any closer than two points late in the set, despite eight kills and no errors from Daron. The third proved to be the only offensive-minded set for either team as UCA landed 16 kills and only one error (.366) to get to 2-1 while SFA hit a respectable .286 itself in the frame.
Needing a win to stay alive, that is just what the Ladyjacks got in the fourth set. This time it was Bailey and Owens doing the offensive damage with a combined 10 kills and SFA followed the serve of Mary Caitlin Bottles on a six-point run midway through the set to push its lead to 16-11. From there it was nearly all Bailey and Owens as they combined to have hand in six of the final nine points of the set to send the match to what was an expected fifth set.
But SFA put itself in an early 4-0 hole before Owens finally got them on the board with a kill from the left side. UCA kept the pressure on though and got a break when Jessica Hays found the floor for one of only two UCA service aces on the night that gave the Sugar Bears an 8-4 lead at the halfway point of the frame. But SFA was not done and clawed back to 12-10 on a kill by Daron before squaring things up for the first time on points from Owens and Laurel Kuepker and a misfire from Hays. However, the Sugar Bears were able to force a side out on a soft kill from Smith and took advantage of their only necessary match point when Hays picked up her 13th kill of the evening.
The Ladyjacks step out of conference one last time on Thursday when they host Tulane at Johnson Coliseum at 7:00 p.m. SFA then travels to Lake Charles for a match with McNeese State.
-SFA-
