Stephen F. Austin
Abilene Christian
SFA Downs ACU, Keeps Win Streak Alive
11/13/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
ABILENE, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin women's volleyball team took care of business inside Moody Coliseum very quickly on Thursday night, sweeping Abilene Christian 3-0 (25-15, 25-23, 25-21) to remain unbeaten in Southland Conference action this season. The Ladyjacks, who clinched the outright SLC title earlier this week, received their championship trophy in Abilene after the match.
The Ladyjacks (22-7, 15-0 SLC) are just one win away from finishing the conference regular season with a perfect 16-0 record. It would be the first time since 2006 that an SFA squad accomplished the task.
Junior Jacque Allen and Senior Jill Ivy were dominant for SFA from start to finish. Allen hit above .700 for the majority of the match and finished with 12 kills on .625 hitting. Ivy muscled 13 kills to the floor on 26 swings - her fourth straight match with 13 kills.
Senior Paige Holland had a big double-double in the form of 35 assists and a season-high 16 digs. She chipped in three kills and two service aces to go along with her seventh double-double of the season.
"We got great production from Jacque and Jill tonight but also did a nice job at the service line," said head coach Debbie Humphreys. "We were able to put pressure on them and get them out of system for most of the night. We improved on a few key things and took a step forward tonight which is important."
Junior Tori Bates and sophomore Justice Walker each posted seven kills as SFA outhit the Wildcats (6-23, 4-11 SLC) .288 - .222.
Junior OJ Olson continued her consistent back row play with 18 total digs.
The Ladyjacks jumped all over the Wildcats in the opening set, building early leads of 8-1 and 12-2 before cruising to a 25-15 win. Ivy and Allen played error-free volleyball and each notched four kills in the early going to set the tone in the match.
The dynamic duo kept up their torrid pace in a much more tightly contested second set. Allen and Ivy each recorded five more winners in the frame to take 18 combined kills into the break. The teams battled back and forth throughout the entire period and sat with the score knotted up at 22-22. Allen and Ivy were the difference down the stretch for SFA. Allen slammed down back-to-back kills and the pair stuffed an attack on set point to secure the 25-23 win.
Another huge factor that tipped the scale in the Ladyjacks favor in the set was the accurate distributions from Holland. The conference assist leader tallied 18 assists in the second set alone to help her team take a 2-0 advantage into the break. As a team, SFA swung a .500 percentage in the second.
The Ladyjacks took advantage of a Wildcat error on the first point of the third set and never trailed on their way to a 25-21 result in the final frame.
SFA has now earned sweeps in 12 of 15 matches during SLC play this season - one sweep away from tying the all-time program record.
The Ladyjacks will travel to San Antonio on Friday morning to prepare for a Saturday afternoon match against Incarnate Word in the regular season finale. First serve is set for 2:00 p.m.
-SFA-
