Stephen F. Austin
Nicholls State
SFA Cruises Past Colonels in SLC Opener
9/25/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
THIBODAUX, La. – The Stephen F. Austin women’s volleyball team started Southland Conference play on a high note on Thursday night, sweeping Nicholls State 3-0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-21) in Stopher Gymnasium. The Ladyjacks have won six of their last eight matches dating back to Sept. 10.
“We went out and executed pretty well tonight,” head coach Debbie Humphreys said. “We played some scrappy defense and won a lot of hustle points which is always fun to see. When you can do those things it definitely brings momentum to your side.”
SFA (8-7) displayed a clean brand of volleyball on the night, committing just 13 errors in the match compared to 22 by Nicholls State (4-10).
Junior Jacque Allen led the SFA offensive attack with 15 kills on 29 attacks. She committed just two attack errors in three sets for a .448 attack percentage on the evening. The middle blocker was also a force at the net, leading the Ladyjacks with five blocks in the contest.
SFA juniors OJ Olson and Madison Martin continued to play terrific defense, combining for 40 digs in the match.
Stephen F. Austin held a slim 10-9 advantage after trading points with Nicholls State to begin the first set. From there, the Ladyjacks used a kill and a service ace by Paige Holland, two winners from Allen and a Kelsi Bartlett kill to spark an 8-1 run to extend their lead to 18-10. SFA was then able to coast to a 25-16 win in set one, capped by another Bartlett kill.
Nicholls State jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the second set but SFA was able to capitalize on five Colonel miscues and two kills from Tori Bates to go ahead 8-6. Olson was at the service line for six points of the Ladyjacks’ 7-0 run, which forced the Colonels to call a timeout.
SFA used a balanced attack the rest of the set en route to a 25-18 win. Three straight kills from Allen, Jill Ivy and Justice Walker closed out the second to help the Ladyjacks take a 2-0 set advantage into the break.
Ivy finished the night with 10 kills – her 12th 10-kill match of the year – while Walker grounded nine.
The two teams battled within a three-point margin in the third set until back-to-back kills from Ivy and Walker put SFA on top 24-19. Ivy later connected for her 10th kill of the night to slam the door on the Colonels and give the ‘Jacks the 25-21 decision in the third.
The 3-0 sweep of Nicholls State puts Stephen F. Austin ahead 37-5 in the all-time series.
Holland tallied 36 assists and led the Ladyjacks to a .236 hitting percentage in the match. The senior setter chipped in a service ace and six digs for SFA.
The Ladyjacks will have an opportunity to improve to 2-0 in Southland Conference play on Saturday when they square off against McNeese State. The match is set to start at 2:00 p.m. in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
“McNeese is a solid ball club,” said Humphreys. “We feel very confident in what we do and we’ll continue to keep our focus on what we need to do execution-wise. It’ll be a battle on Saturday.”
SFA will return to Shelton Gym on Thursday, Oct. 2 to face Incarnate Word in the Ladyjacks’ SLC home opener. First serve is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
Note: The win marks the 580th career victory for Humphreys while head coach at Stephen F. Austin.
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