Stephen F. Austin
Nicholls State
Ladyjacks Sweep Away Colonels
10/22/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 22, 2011
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NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Madison Hanlan became just the fifth Ladyjack to total 1,500 digs for her career, and SFA swung at a .220 clip to move back to .500 in conference play with a 3-0 (25-16, 25-23, 25-23) win over Nicholls on Saturday at Shelton Gym.
Hanlan had 13 of her match-high 21 digs in the first set and now needs just 36 more digs to move into the school's all-time top three in the category with still her senior season yet to be played. Senior MC Bottles also finished with six kills and recorded her 1,200th career kill and is now just 48 scores away from moving into SFA's all-time top 10.
The match was just the third time in SFA's (12-13, 5-5 SLC) last 17 matches where it hit at least .200, but was the fourth match in its last five where it finished with more kills than its opponent, despite just being led by Jill Ivy's 10 kills. But SFA had five players register at least six kills on the afternoon, compared to Nicholls (16-10, 3-7 SLC) who landed two in double-figures, but only one other hitter with more than five scores.
Sabrina Burns led the defensive charge at the net by having part in six of SFA's nine blocks, while Bottles, Ivy, Katzy Randall and Paige Holland all had a hand in three rejections apiece. Randall also finished with eight kills and 10 digs, while Holland totaled 34 assists and four scores, including the match-winning dump into the middle of the Colonel defense to close the match.
Leslie Jackson added nine kills on 25 swings, while Ivy just misfired twice on 24 swings to finish with a solid .333 attack percentage for the afternoon.
The Ladyjacks used an early mistake from the Colonels on a rotation error to spark an early rally, opening the match with an 11-3 lead before Nicholls ever got going. SFA was never truly challenged in the first set, using Hanlan's 13 digs on defense and five kills from Ivy on offense to race out to a 1-0 lead after hitting a match-best .286 in the set.
Still, the next two sets did not mimic the first as the Colonels did not let the Ladyjacks ever establisha comfortable lead. In fact, the Colonels hit .250 in the second set, compared to just .190 for the Ladyjacks; however, in a set that saw neither team lead by more than three points at any point, it was a 4-0 run to close the set that clinched it for SFA. After Nicholls had gone up 23-21, Burns and Jackson each had kills to put SFA back in front before Bottles dropped in an ace and the combination of Holland and Burns with a block of Rachel Yezak which sent SFA to the locker room up 2-0.
The third set saw the Ladyjacks put together a late charge to complete the sweep, falling behind 18-15 to the Colonels before scoring six of the next eight points and taking a 21-20 lead on consecutive kills from Bottles. Yezak managed to knot it up one point later, but two more mistakes by the Colonels and a kill from Ivy gave SFA a match-point try, one which is converted on its second try when Holland landed a two-handed shot from the net in the middle of the Nicholls defense for SFA's 15th kill of the set.
The Ladyjacks next have a pair of road matches versus SLC West foes Texas State and UT-Arlington, beginning Thursday against the Bobcats in San Marcos. SFA lost in three sets to Texas State in Nacogdoches last week before sweeping UTA.
-SFA-
