Stephen F. Austin
Central Arkansas
UCA Rallies To Stun Ladyjacks
9/29/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 29, 2012
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks had four match-point tries, but Central Arkansas fought it off each time and eventually outlasted SFA 3-2 (20-25, 29-31, 26-24, 30-28, 15-12) in a battle of the two top teams in the Southland Conference on Saturday at Shelton Gym.
UCA (15-1, 5-1 SLC) never led by more than two points at any point of the match until the fifth set and got a match-high 23 kills from all-conference outside hitter Jessica Hays to help in the comeback effort. SFA (14-4, 5-1 SLC) meanwhile, saw its season-high seven-match win streak come to an end at the hands of the Sugar Bears, marking the sixth consecutive win by UCA in the series dating back to 2008.
Jill Ivy once again led SFA with 17 kills and five blocks, while freshman Cara Leslie totaled her first career double-double with 15 kills and 12 blocks. The 12 blocks are tied for the fifth most single-match blocks in SFA history.
In a match that saw three of five sets go to extra points, SFA had a pair of match-point tries in both the third and fourth sets, but failed to convert each time. The Ladyjacks, led by Leslie's 12 rejections, finished with 13 as a team and hit a solid .217, just edging the Sugar Bears' .215 mark. Sabrina Burns had 13 kills, while Paige Holland had a double-double with 50 assists and 12 digs. Katzy Randall led SFA with 17 digs, while Madison Hanlan had 16 and OJ Olson 11.
Neither team set the world on fire in the first set offensively, but even with a .069 attack percentage the Ladyjacks were still able to space itself out late in the set, swelling its lead to its largest at five points when Leslie delivered the set-clinching kill.
The Ladyjacks looked as though they were going to cruise into the half up 2-0 after jumping out in front 19-12 before the set turned into a battle of attrition. UCA , who hit .289 in the set got a kill from Taylor Hammonds to spark a run that brought them all the way back, tying the set at 23-23 on a kill from Alicia Dittrich; however, a Leslie followed with a kill and the teams then went back and forth with SFA having to stave off four set-point tries from the Sugar Bears before forcing a pair of attack errors from Hays to take the set 31-29.
The offense came to life for both teams again in the third set with the Ladyjacks swinging a solid .267 to .333 for UCA and were on the verge of closing out the sweep when a kill from Leslie gave SFA a 24-21 advantage;however, Dittrich scored one before an attack error and a service error tied things up at 24-24. UCA then closed out the set on a 5-0 run with consecutive kills from Hays to keep the match alive.
In the fourth set neither team was ever able to lead by more than two points at any point of the set, but SFA once again went to Leslie for the late point that put itself in position to close out the match. Unfortunately, the Ladyjacks were not able to convert on either of their two chances in the set to close out the match as consecutive kills from Hammonds and Scout Brooks - who finished with 20 kills of her own - forced the match to a deciding frame.
There, UCA for the first time in the match was finally able to take hold of a lead, jumping in front 11-6 and eventually holding off the Ladyjacks with 12 of their 15 points coming via kill.
SFA will not have long to lick its wounds, though, as a difficult pair of matches await this upcoming week when the Ladyjacks travel to Sam Houston State on Thursday, followed by a matinee match at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday.
-SFA-
