Ladyjacks Fall 3-0 to Central Arkansas in Conway
10/31/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Central Arkansas 3, Stephen F. Austin 0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-16)
Records: SFA (17-12, 8-4 Southland), Central Arkansas (14-10, 10-2 Southland)
Up Next: vs. Lamar • Thursday, Nov. 3 • 6:30 p.m. • Nacogdoches, Texas
CONWAY, Ark. – Whatever hex has been placed on the Stephen F. Austin volleyball team when it takes on Central Arkansas was not lifted on Saturday afternoon in the Prince Center as the Ladyjacks found themselves on the wrong side of a 3-0 decision against the Sugar Bears.
Suffering from a severe lack of offense, the Ladyjacks hit at a clip of just .074 through the match and had the misfortune of running into a Sugar Bears’ squad that connected on 31.1-percent of its swings. SFA’s all-time record against UCA slipped to 4-12 with the straight-set loss.
“We struggled in every aspect of the game,” said SFA’s head coach Debbie Humphreys. “We simply couldn’t get into any kind of rhythm and got outplayed.”
Makenzee Hanna and Justice Walker each totaled seven kills that stood as the high marks for SFA’s attack. Walker, a junior, finished with a service ace, one solo block and a pair of block assists on her final stat line.
Reigning Southland Conference Player of the Year Heather Schnars set the tone right away for the Sugar Bears as she spiked her first of a match-best 17 kills and added both of her service aces in UCA’s 6-1 sure to begin the battle.
SFA managed to regain its composure, eventually pulling within two points of their league foes after a Shannon Connell service ace made matters 12-10, but a faulty attack plan continued to hurt the Ladyjacks in their quest for victory. Committing six errors while racking up just five kills in the first frame, SFA finished the set in negative attack percentage territory (-.045).
In search of anything to get their offense going, SFA commenced the middle frame with back-to-back kills from Jordan McArdle and Jacque Allen. Those terminations, coupled with an attack error by Schnars, gave the visitors a 3-1 edge.
That three-point lead stayed constant in the early stages as the Ladyjacks owned a 6-3 edge, but Schnars led the home team on a 10-3 run by slamming down another five kills during the Sugar Bears’ set-turning scoring spree.
Determined to match the aggressiveness of the home team, the Ladyjacks managed to knot the set at 20, but UCA closed things out with a 5-0 surge to open up a 2-0 lead.
In the deciding frame, SFA and UCA swapped points and were tied on three occasions, the last of which being a 4-4 deadlock. Just like they did in the first two frames, though, the Sugar Bears set out on an 8-1 run to take control of the set.
Allen stepped up in the front row and delivered a solo rejection to bring SFA within three, 14-11, but Rachel Sharp took the reins for UCA and delivered three kills and a service ace during a 7-2 run to put the home team up 21-13.
Schnars hit .441 in the match and scooped up a team-high 10 digs to complete her double-double for UCA. Samantha Anderson floored 12 winners and hit .400 for the home team, too. OJ Olson hustled down a match-high 15 digs to lead SFA’s defensive effort.
Despite the loss, the Ladyjacks remain firmly planted in third place when looking at the Southland Conference standings and will play their final four regular season matches in the confines of Shelton Gym. That four-match stretch begins with a visit from Lamar at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday evening.
