Stephen F. Austin
Texas A&M Corpus Christi
Seniors Lead SFA To Sweep Of Islanders
11/6/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 6, 2012
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NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Stephen F. Austin honored its pair of seniors before Tuesday's match against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, and Sabrina Burns and Madison Hanlan returned the favor with standout performances as the Ladyjacks swept the Islanders, 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-22) at Shelton Gym.
Hanlan had 22 digs in the three-set affair and Burns had 11 kills and three blocks, hitting .320 for the Ladyjacks (20-10, 10-6 SLC) who reached the 20-win plateau for the first time since 2009 and also caught the Islanders (19-10, 10-6 SLC) in the league standings with two matches apiece remaining for each squad.
Tori Bates also had a standout match for SFA, registering a double-double with 14 kills and 13 digs and Jacque Allen added six kills and had a hand in six of SFA's 11 blocks. The Ladyjacks hit .228 for the match, their highest attack percentage in the last seven matches, hitting no less than .205 in any of the match's three sets.
That hitting mark came in large part to the setting duo of Amanda Rister and Paige Holland who combined for 41 assists, 21 of which came from Rister. Each nearly pulled off a double-double as well, finishing with nine digs apiece.
Brooke Alverson led the Islanders with 11 kills and four blocks, while Shannon Hullum had 10 kills.
The Ladyjacks got out to a 2-0 lead, hitting .241 in the opening two sets. SFA led nearly the entire way in the first set, but still had to hold off the Islanders, 25-23, needing all of its 18 kills to do so. SFA then got five more kills from Burns in the second set, jumping out to an 18-12 lead before TAMUCC cut it back to 18-17. But the Ladyjacks managed to fight off that rally with one of their own, hitting .211 in the set and scoring seven of the final 11 points of the frame.
SFA had to work to get the match done in three sets, though, trailing the Islanders as late as the 17-14 point of the third frame; however, one of Jill Ivy's seven kills on the match sparked a 7-2 run to push the Ladyjacks ahead, 21-20. TAMUCC had the set tied as late as the 22-22 point before SFA managed to score the final three points of the match, finishing it off when Leslie Jackson and Ivy rejected a shot from Brianna Brink.
The Ladyjacks now hit the road for a difficult final two matches of the regular season, taking on Oral Roberts on Thursday in Tulsa before battling Central Arkansas in Conway on Saturday in the regular-season finale for both teams.
-SFA-
