Stephen F. Austin
Butler
SFA Wins Pair On Opening Day Of Butler Classic
9/7/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Indiana Box Score | Butler Box Score
INDIANAPOLIS, IND. - The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks put together their most productive day of the season on Friday at Hinkle Fieldhouse, knocking off Indiana in five sets for the program's first-ever win over a Big 10 school before sweeping host Butler to close out a pair of wins to open up the Butler Classic.
"I could not be more proud of this group than I am today," head coach Debbie Humphreys said following SFA's 3-0 win over Butler. "To show the fight that we did being down 10-3 in the final set to Indiana and then to turn around so quickly after that and beat a really good Butler team on their home floor, that is a an accomplishment we should all be very proud of."
SFA (7-2) will now take a four-match win streak into the tournament finale on Saturday when it takes on Western Illinois at 1:00 p.m.
SFA 3, Indiana 2
The Ladyjacks had to go to five sets for the third time in its last four matches and trailed Indiana 10-3 in the fifth set before rallying for eight consecutive points and hanging on for a 3-2 (25-20, 24-26, 23-25, 25-16, 15-13) over the Hoosiers.
IU (5-2) barely scathed by with consecutive two-point wins in the second and third sets to stake itself to a lead before SFA (6-2) finally managed to separate itself in the fourth set in the first-ever meeting between the teams. But in the fifth set's race to 15 it was Indiana who raced out to a 10-3 lead before SFA caught fire to steal the set and the match.
It was the third time in its last four matches the Ladyjacks had been stretched to five sets, while also serving as SFA's first-ever win over a Big 10 school. The Ladyjacks had previously dropped matches to Purdue in 1999 and Wisconsin in 1995.
Katzy Randall finished with 13 kills to lead the Ladyjacks offensively, adding 15 digs to pick up her second double-double of the season. Jill Ivy and freshman Tori Bates each had 11 kills apiece and Paige Holland joined Randall with a double-double, picking up 14 digs to go along with her 43 assists.
Cara Leslie and Sabrina Burns each manned the net, coming up with eight kills apiece while Leslie finished with four blocks and Burns had a team-high seven. Madison Hanlan, OJ Olson and Janet Hill all finished in double-digit digs, Hanlan having a match-high 23, Olson with 16 and Hill with 10.
Jordan Haverly led all players with 23 kills for Indiana and Samantha Thrower had a match-high nine blocks for the Hoosiers.
Offensively, SFA was not at its best, just hitting .118 for the match, but swung at a match-high .333 clip in the final set. Defensively, however, SFA outblocked the Hoosiers 11-10 and held IU to no higher than .081 hitting in four of the match's first five sets.
SFA 3, BUTLER 0
Just 90 minutes after knocking off Indiana, the Ladyjacks made it a perfect 2-0 day with a sweep (25-23, 28-26, 25-20) of the host Butler Bulldogs behind 11 kills apiece from Jill Ivy and Tori Bates.
The Ladyjacks (7-2) could not have asked for a better start, jumping out in front 2-0 on the Bulldogs (6-3) on Butler's home floor. Katzy Randall and Sabrina Burns each had four kills apiece in the opening set as SFA scored five of the final six points of the set to overcome .202 hitting for a 1-0 lead.
One set later the Ladyjacks raced out to an 8-2 lead before having to fight off the Bulldogs late to take a 2-0 lead to the break. Butler put together a 9-3 lead that resulted in a 24-24 tie and even a set-point try before an attack error by the Bulldogs and Jill Ivy's seventh kill of the night finally secured the frame.
One set later SFA used 15 kills and hit .200 in a five-point win to secure the sweep. The Ladyjacks scored 11 of the final 17 points of the set, including six in a row to snap a 14-14 tie and take a commanding 20-14 lead before Ivy finished it off with her 11th kill of the match.
Ivy and Bates led the way with their 11 kills, while Sabrina Burns added nine and a pair of blocks. Paige Holland had her second double-double of the day with 34 assists and 12 digs, and Madison Hanlan led the Ladyjacks with 16 digs in the three-set affair. Katzy Randall also added 10 digs, and Jacque Allen made a productive appearance with four kills and a block in the final set.
-SFA-
