Stephen F. Austin
Northwestern State
SFA Clinches Share of SLC Title
11/7/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
NATCHITOCHES, La. - For the first time since 2007, the Stephen F. Austin women's volleyball team will have at least a share of the Southland Conference regular season title. The Ladyjacks defeated Northwestern State 3-1 (26-24, 25-22, 22-25, 25-23) in Prather Coliseum on Friday night to claim the number one seed in the 2014 SLC tournament and ensure they finish no worse than tied for first in the conference standings.
"This means a lot to me because I wanted it so badly for this team," said head coach Debbie Humphreys. "Not just for the seniors although you certainly want that for your seniors. They've been through a lot and really helped get this program back on track. To be able to come off the struggles we had last year and win a conference title is very exciting.
"We knew we were capable of doing it. But it's one thing to have the talent to do it and it's another to come together as a team and get it done. This team has grown so much from the end of last season until now. We've become a team instead of just a bunch of really good individual players. I'm excited they got to reap the benefits of that."
The Ladyjacks (21-7, 14-0 SLC) used a career-best effort from sophomore middle blocker Justice Walker to power past the Lady Demons (11-16, 8-6 SLC) in a very competitive match. Walker posted 19 kills on the evening to blow past her previous career-high mark. The Fort Worth, Texas native hit at a .469 clip in a match where points were hard to come by.
Junior Jacque Allen and senior Jill Ivy also put up big numbers for SFA. Allen slammed down 14 kills and Ivy was credited with 13 winners.
Senior Paige Holland claimed her sixth double-double of the year by distributing 52 assists and getting under 10 digs. In her fourth year in the program, Holland and the other three seniors on the team (Janet Hill, Katzy Randall and Ivy) played a huge role in bringing a championship back to Nacogdoches.
"It hasn't hit me just yet," Holland said with a smile after the match. "Once it does, it's going to hit me hard. I'm just so proud of my team and just proud of the way that they fought tonight. Whenever I was playing rough or someone else was having a struggle, everyone just stepped up and rallied around them. It was such a fun thing to be a part of."
Defensively, junior libero OJ Olson was diving all over the court all night long. She finished the evening with 27 digs. Freshman Lexus Cain joined her in double figures with 13 digs in the match.
SFA has won 14 straight matches heading into the final week of the regular season. It is the fifth-longest winning streak in the nation among 334 Division I teams.
SFA's talented middle blocker combination made its presence felt early in the match with mammoth kills throughout the opening set. Allen and Walker combined for 10 of the Ladyjacks' 17 kills in the period.
Walker drilled a ball straight to the floor on a slide to the right midway through the set, helping SFA build an 18-13 advantage. After a subsequent Northwestern State timeout, the Lady Demons climbed right back into the game at 19-19 to force an SFA stoppage in play.
Holland, Allen and Ivy notched three consecutive touch kills out of the Humphreys timeout to regain control at 22-19. With the match tied at 24-24, Walker finished a huge first set by recording back-to-back kills to give SFA the 26-24 set one win. Walker hit .857 in the first set alone to lead the Ladyjacks.
Northwestern State ran off six straight points to go up 11-9 in the second. From there, the Ladyjacks had to scratch and claw from behind with scrappy play being displayed from both sides. The defense from both teams was tremendous in the frame. SFA played a much better brand of volleyball down the stretch, however, going on a 6-1 run to claim the 25-22 victory. Five of the final six SFA points involved a Northwestern State error.
Despite seven more kills from Walker in the third set, the Lady Demons edged the Ladyjacks 25-22 to force a fourth set.
SFA shook off the third set in a hurry and came out on fire in the fourth. The Ladyjacks stormed to a 5-0 lead and held an 8-3 advantage before the Lady Demons called timeout to stop the bleeding.
The Ladyjacks were able to fend off the Lady Demons the rest of the way to take the fourth set 25-23, finish off their 14th consecutive win, and earn a share of the title.
The Ladyjacks will wrap up the regular season next week with matches on the road against Abilene Christian on Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. and Incarnate Word on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. SFA swept both programs in Shelton Gym earlier this season.
The Ladyjacks can claim the title outright with a win against either team.
-SFA-
