Stephen F. Austin
North Dakota
Ladyjacks Close UND Classic With Pair Of Wins
9/1/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 1, 2012
South Dakota Box Score | North Dakota Box Score
GRAND FORKS, N.D. -The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks dropped their first two sets of the day, but then proceeded to win six of their next seven en route to a pair of wins over South Dakota and North Dakota to close out the UND Classic on Saturday.
Jill Ivy and Katzy Randalleach scored 21 kills in SFA's (5-2) wins, concluded by a strong win over North Dakota which avenged a loss to UND last year on SFA's home floor.
"We played really good volleyball today. I felt like we gave a match away yesterday, but we took giant steps today as a team," head coach Debbie Humphreys said. "North Dakota is an excellent team and program and a win on their home court means we are making great progress."
At the conclusion of the tournament both Randall and Madison Hanlanwere each named to the all-tournament team.
The Ladyjacks will try to maintain their momentum next week when they travel to Indianapolis, Ind., to take part in the Butler Tournament before hosting the Chilly Fillmore's Invitational the following week.
SFA 3, North Dakota 1
Katzy Randalltied a career high with 21 kills and the SFA rejected 12 shots in closing out the UND Classic with a 3-1 (13-25, 29-27, 25-23, 25-12) win over North Dakota in the tournament finale on Saturday.
Randall added six blocks to her 21 kills and was followed by Ivy with 12 kills of her own. Hanlan had a team-best 19 digs and Sabrina Burnshad a hand in five of SFA's blocks.
The Ladyjacks committed nine attack errors in the first set, but quickly stepped it up offensively to hit .248 for the remainder of the match. Neither team held more than a two-point lead at any point of the second set before the Ladyjacks finally outlasted UND, knotting things at 27 apiece on a kill from Tori Batesbefore a pair of UND errors evened the match at 1-1.
SFA then got four kills apiece from Randall and Burns and withstood a late four-point rally from UND that took the set from a 23-19 lead to a 23-23 tie with a kill from Cara Leslieand a UND error. The Ladyjacks then ended the match with a bang, allowing just a pair of UND kills in the final set as North Dakota hit just -.152 while SFA swung at a solid .243 clip. The Ladyjacks wasted little time jumping out to a commanding lead, leading 17-4 at one point before cruising to the finish line.
SFA 3, South Dakota 2
Jill Ivydelivered a career-high 21 kills and Stephen f. Austin erased a 2-0 deficit to rally and pick up a 3-2 (19-25, 21-25, 25-20, 25-16, 15-11) win over South Dakota.
Just hours after dropping a five-set heartbreaker to Green Bay, the Ladyjacks (4-2) earned their second five-set win of the year. It marked the fourth time in the past three seasons that SFA (4-2) has dropped the first two sets of a match only to come back and get the win.
Ivy had 15 of her kills in the final three sets, including six in the final set alone. The sophomore hit .410 for the match as the primary target for Paige Holland who finished with 45 assists and seven digs. Katzy Randall picked up her first double-double of the season with 13 kills and 13 digs while Madison Hanlanadded 23 digs.
Tori Bates had her most efficient match of her young career, hitting .242 with 12 kills, five digs, three blocks and a pair of service aces. Janet Hillhad 11 digs.
The Ladyjacks were outblocked for the match 12-5, but used a used its defense to claw back into the match after allowing the Coyotes to hit .347 in the first two sets, USD could only manage to swing .025 I the next two sets as SFA evened up the match.
South Dakota did not commit an attack error in the final set, but could not stop Ivy and the SFA offense as Ivy had kills on four of the first six points of the fifth set in helping the Ladyjacks jump out to a 13-7 lead before eventually delivering the final kill of the match to secure not only the win, but her career high.
-SFA-
