Stephen F. Austin
Baylor
SFA Drops Opener At Baylor
8/27/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Aug. 27, 2010
WACO, Texas - The Ladyjack volleyball team took the first set from Baylor in the season opener for both teams on Friday, but the Bears rallied to take the final three sets and earn a 3-1 (26-28, 25-10, 25-13, 25-18) win on the first day of the Holiday Inn and Suites Baylor Classic at the Ferrell Center.
Freshman Monica Pannone led the Ladyjacks (0-1) with eight kills, but SFA could only hit .018 against a Baylor (1-0) team that advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
"I saw a lot of things tonight that I was happy about," head coach Debbie Humphreys said. "We came out with good intensity and showed a killer isntinct in taking that first set. But Baylor is a very good team, and we saw why. That is one of the better teams we will play this year and we will take a lot from this match and move forward."
Kelsey Owens and Allison Gideon added seven kills, while Madison Hanlan opened up her season with a 20-dig outing.
The Ladyjacks took the first set by holding the Bears to just .146 hitting, while Pannone bombed in six of her kills on the night in the set. SFA led for the majority of the set, pushing the lead to as much as four points before the Bears clawed back to knot it at 20-20 on a kill from Torri Campbell. The Bears then got their opportunity for a win at a set-point opportunity at 24-23, but Allison Gideon and Pannone responded with kills on consecutive points and eventually it was a dig from MC Bottles that went over the net and found the floor that helped SFA cash in on its set-point opportunity.
The second set was much different as SFA went from hitting .239 in the first set to just -.171 in the second, only finding the floor with three kills while Baylor picked up 13 kills against SFA defense. Baylor scored the first four points of the set and never looked back, using an Ashlie Christenson kill for the final point.
The third and fourth sets were much the same as the Bears led throughout both, hitting a solid .235 in the third and getting seven blocks in the frame - all involving Elizabeth Graham -in holding the Ladyjacks to just -.211 hitting. In the fourth Baylor got five kills from Graham, and despite SFA pulling to within four points at 21-17 on an ace from Owens, the Bears took the four of the final five points to seal the match.
SFA continues the Baylor Classic on Saturday with two matches, first versus Butler at 10:00 a.m. and then versus SMU at 5:00 p.m.
-SFA-
