Stephen F. Austin
Sam Houston State
Bearkats Finish Season Sweep Of SFA
10/5/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 5, 2011
HUNTSVILLE, Texas - Despite getting a match-high 33 digs from Madison Hanlan, the Ladyjacks fell victim to Sam Houston State for the second time this season, falling 3-1 (25-17, 18-25, 25-18, 27-25) to the Bearkats on Wednesday at Bernard G. Jonson Coliseum.
It is the fifth win for the Bearkats (10-9, 4-2 SLC) over the Ladyjacks (9-11, 2-4 SLC) in the last six meetings dating back to 2008; however, it is the first time since the 1996 season that Sam Houston State has taken less than five sets to register a win over SFA.
SFA hit just .095 for the match and got 12 kills from MC Bottles and 10 from Jill Ivy, but in each of its three losing sets did not manage to hit higher than .071. Paige Holland doled out 35 assists, and Melissa Miksch and Michaela Spicer joined Hanlan in double-figure digs with 15 and 14 apiece, respectively.
Still, aside from the offensive contributions from Bottles and Ivy, only three other Ladyjacks - Miksch, Taylor Gross and Sabrina Burns - finished with more than a single kill.
SFA got the majority of its offense from its defense, doubling up the Bearkats in blocks, 15-7.5, including nine apiece from Gross and Burns.
Sam Houston used a 5-2 spurt in the first set to gain an inside track on a 1-0 lead, hitting .239 in the first frame before the Ladyjacks flipped the script in the second set. SFA held the Bearkats to just .049 hitting and swung at a.257 clip itself to square things up heading into the locker room.
But after the break things did not turn for the better as Sam Houston snapped a 12-12 deadlock with a 6-1 run and went on to close things out the third set with a seven-point advantage on a kill from Kelli Stewart.
One set later neither side managed more than a two-point advantage at any point of the set, trading back and forth points throughout the frame. But late in the set it was the Bearkats using a kill from Kim Black to get its first of three match-point tries, and despite a kill from Ivy and a pair of Bearkat service errors prolonging the set, Sam Houston finally closed out the match on an errant swing from Bottles.
SFA will try and snap its two-match losing streak on Saturday when it travels to Hammond, La., to take on Southeastern Louisiana at 2:00 p.m. at the University Center. -SFA-
