Stephen F. Austin
Memphis
SFA Takes Two In Missouri
9/4/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 4, 2009
SFA vs Mississippi State Box Score
SFA vs Memphis Box Score
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - The Ladyjack volleyball team picked up a pair of wins on Friday, getting past both Mississippi State and Memphis in the first day of the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational hosted by Missouri State.
SFA (5-2) has now won its last three matches with two more matches remaining on Saturday against UC-Davis and Missouri State.
The Ladyjacks once again started slowly against the Bulldogs (1-3) in the first match of the day, but stayed true to early-season form and rebounded to take the final three sets for the 3-1 (22-25, 25-15, 25-14, 25-21) and move to 4-0 all-time against Mississippi State.
Melissa Miksch and Amber Williams-Roberts each posted double-doubles, with Miksch setting career highs with 11 kills and 23 digs. SFA also rejected 13 Bulldog shots with Ashley Bailey tying a career high of her own with eight blocks, two of which were solo.
SFA only managed to hit .045 in the match's opening frame and never had the lead as Mississippi State got five kills from Chanelle Baker to grab an early 1-0 advantage.
The next two sets were a completely different story as the Ladyjacks got on a roll quickly behind the hot hands of both Miksch and Williams-Roberts. Miksch landed five kills on only eight tries without an error in the second set on her way to a career-best 11 kills for the day, while Williams-Roberts added eight of her team-high 14 in the two middle frames. The sophomore tandem helped SFA to a .324 attack percentage in the second set, but it was all defense in the third as SFA forced the Bulldogs into -.207 hitting.
The Bulldogs did not go quietly in the final set, holding the lead for the majority of the set until Miksch knotted it up at 21 and Williams-Roberts gave SFA the lead one point later with a kill of her own. SFA then forced a pair of Bulldog attack errors and got a kill from Sabrina Burns for the match's final three points.
In the matinee 3-0 (25-21, 25-14, 25-19) sweep over Memphis (0-4), the Ladyjacks had its best offensive showing of the season, swinging at a .308 clip for the match with five players getting at least eight kills. Once again it was Miksch leading the way with her second double-double of the day, eclipsing her earlier offensive totals by setting a new career high again with 12 kills on 20 swings with only one error. Bailey, Williams-Roberts, Arielle Daron and Mary Caitlin Bottles each totaled eight kills and SFA won at the service line as well, getting eight aces compared to just one for the Tigers.
Daron got four of her eight kills in the first set with three other Ladyjacks tallying three apiece as SFA used a late 6-1 surge to pull away from the Tigers and jump out in front. But the second set was even more lopsided with Bottles and Bailey leading the way at the net. The two had four kills apiece in the frame without a single error with Bottles adding three blocks as well. SFA used an early seven-point run and followed the serves of Kuepker and Williams-Roberts to a commanding 18-10 lead before coasting to the finish line at 25-14.
SFA then kept the Tigers at arm's length in the clinching set, hitting .324 and never relinquishing the lead. Six players scored at least a pair of kills, while only misfiring four times as a team. Memphis had evened the score at 15 apiece, but Paloma Buckner connected with Daron to give SFA the lead for good before Madison Hanlan dropped in one of eight SFA aces as the Ladyjacks ran off six consecutive points to get the score to 21-15. Miksch, Burns and Williams-Roberts then each tallied a kill to put the Tigers away.
-SFA-
