Stephen F. Austin
Auburn
SFA Drops Five-Set Slugfest at Auburn
8/28/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Auburn 3, Stephen F. Austin 2
Auburn Arena · Auburn, Ala.
Records: SFA (0-1); Auburn (1-0)
Up Next: vs. Samford · Saturday, Aug. 29 · 9:30 a.m.
AUBURN, Ala. – Stephen F. Austin pushed host Auburn to a decisive fifth set, but the Ladyjacks' rally fell a little short as SFA drops a 22-25, 25-21, 18-25, 25-18, 9-15 match to the host Tigers in the 2015 season opener at the War Eagle Invitational.
"The girls played extremely hard and looked great at times tonight," said head coach Debbie Humphreys. "We had our opportunities throughout the match and obviously we would have liked to capitalize on more of them, but this is a great starting point for our season."
Jacque Allen led the way for SFA, finishing with 11 kills with a .308 hitting percentage while adding five blocks on the night. Freshman Haley Coleman had an impressive showing in her collegiate debut, recording a double-double with 10 kills and 13 digs, with Justice Walker adding 10 kills and three blocks for the Ladyjacks.
Tori Bates added eight kills for SFA with Shannon Connell recording a double-double as well, finishing with 38 assists and 12 digs. Defensively, OJ Olson posted a team-best 21 digs for the Ladyjacks with Lexus Cain adding 17.
SFA and Auburn battled each other all night as both teams had opportunities throughout the match. After a late Tiger rally gave Auburn the first set victory, SFA responded in kind with a 25-22 victory in set two, pulling away over the last half of the stanza and tying the match at intermission.
Auburn rebounded with a 25-18 victory in set three, which was matched by the Ladyjacks in set four as SFA went on a 10-3 run to close out the set, hitting .348 collectively as a team in set four. The Ladyjacks then fell behind early in the fifth and were never able to settle into a groove, hitting -.154 and being outscored 7-2 following the switch to secure the win for Auburn.
SFA will have to recover quickly from the five-set ordeal as the Ladyjacks will play two more matches Saturday at the War Eagle Invitational, beginning with a 9:30 a.m. first serve against Samford. SFA then closes out the event with a 5 p.m. match with Jacksonville. Live stats of both games are available at the War Eagle Invitational Tournament Central page.
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