Stephen F. Austin
Oral Roberts
Ladyjacks Stay Hot, Sweep Oral Roberts
9/27/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 27, 2012
Box Score |
Photo Gallery 
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks kept hold of sole possession of first place in the Southland Conference, sweeping Oral Roberts 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-22) in the opening leg of a difficult home weekend on Thursday at Shelton Gym.
Jill Ivy, the reigning Southland Conference Offensive Player of theWeek, had a match-high 14 kills on 30 swings (.300) to lead the way in the first-ever meeting between the teams. SFA (14-3, 5-0 SLC) hit just .142 and had eight blocks on the night, and bettered in both categories by ORU's (6-10, 2-3 SLC) .152 attack percentage and 10 blocks, but consistently came up with key points when they needed them throughout the evening.
"This was a very good win for us," SFA head coach Debbie Humprheys said. "ORU is a very good team and every set was competitive, but our girls have shown a lot of heart already this season and every time they made a push, it seemed like we had an answer."
The win gives the Ladyjacks a season-best, seven-match win streak, it's longest such streak since a 13-match win streak in 2008.
Ivy had three blocks on her night as well and was the only Ladyjack in double-figure kills, although freshman Cara Leslie was just short, finishing with nine kills and three blocks. Setter Paige Holland had 29 assists, but added five key kills, while as did Tori Bates.
Madison Hanlan finished with 21 digs in three sets, outdigging ORU's Bruna Silva who had just 11 of her own after entering the match averaging a league-best 6.57 per set.
ORU was led offensively by Tatum Fredeen who finished with a dozen kills.
SFA hit .132, but got seven kills from Ivy in taking an early 1-0 lead on the Golden Eagles. The Ladyjacks trailed 17-15 late in the set before scoring three straight points to take an 18-17 lead on an attack error by ORU setter Laura Taylor. Consecutive ORU miscues put SFA back out in front but only momentarily before ORU tied it up at 23-23; however, a service error gave the Ladyjacks a set-point try which it converted when Holland found Randall on the left side for the clinching kill.
The Ladyjacks then looked as though they were going to cruise to a 2-0 lead in Set 2, leading 20-12 at one point. But ORU summoned a 9-1 run that brought them all the way back and tied things at 21-21. SFA finished with a solid .216 attack percentage in the set, but it was a ball handling error from Taylor which put SFA back in front 22-21 before the Ladyjacks followed Randall's serve to the next three points, ending things when Bates found the floor to send SFA to the locker room up 2-0.
SFA nearly led wire to wire in the final set in closing out the match, overcoming five ORU blocks with five of their own, four of which Sabrina Burns had a hand in. Ivy had four more of her kills in the set while Cara Leslie had three, including the final one of the match when she deposited an errant ORU pass at the net on SFA's first match-point try to cap off a 5-2 spurt at the end.
Things do not get any easier for the Ladyjacks on Saturday when they host preseason league favorite Central Arkansas at 1:00 p.m. at Shelton Gym.
-SFA-
