Stephen F. Austin
Texas Tech
Ladyjacks Sweep Texas Tech, Northeastern
9/4/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Stephen F. Austin 3, Texas Tech 0
Shelton Gym • Nacogdoches, Texas
Records: SFA (2-3); Texas Tech (4-1)
Stephen F. Austin 3, Northeastern 0
Shelton Gym • Nacogdoches, Texas
Records: SFA (1-3); NU (0-6)
Up Next: vs. South Dakota State • Saturday, Sept. 5 • 10 a.m.
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Stephen F. Austin protected its home court on the opening day of the 2015 SFA Volleyball Invitational, recording a pair of three-set sweeps over Northeastern and Big 12 foe Texas Tech at Shelton Gym. With the pair of wins, SFA improved to 2-3 on the year, as head coach Debbie Humphreys now sits at 598 career victories at SFA.
Playing in front of a spirited Shelton Gym crowd, SFA went toe-to-toe with the Red Raiders in the evening match, taking down Texas Tech 25-18, 25-22, 25-19 as SFA once again was solid on offense, hitting .243 for the match.
Tori Bates led the Ladyjack offensive charge, recording 13 kills and hitting .407 against the Red Raiders, finishing with a pair of service aces and six digs, registering a match-high 15.5 points. Abby McIntyre added 10 kills and six digs for SFA with Jacque Allen registering nine kills while hitting .500 and adding a pair of blocks.
Makenzee Hanna posted five kills for the Ladyjacks with a pair of blocks as Shannon Connell dished out 33 assists with four digs. Defensively, the Ladyjacks were led by OJ Olson’s 20 digs with Lexus Cain joining Bates and McIntyre with six digs.
SFA gained control of set one, using a 7-2 run to break open a 15-10 lead and never looked back. The Ladyjacks dominated the early part of set two, leading by as many as eight, only to see Tech rally to tie the match at 20-20. But SFA recorded five of the final seven points to take the second, then used a 6-1 run at the end of the third to pull away and seal the victory against Texas Tech.
With the victory, SFA improves to 3-2 all-time against Texas Tech, having won its last three against the Red Raiders. The win marks SFA’s first win over a Big 12 program since defeating Texas Tech 3-1 in 2009.
In SFA’s opening match of its host tournament, the Ladyjacks notched their first victory of the year, sweeping Northeastern 25-22, 25-18, 25-18 as SFA hit an impressive .260 for the match. The Ladyjacks hit .257 in the first set, then upped the ante with a .346 attack percentage in set two before hitting .200 in set three to close it out.
Three different players each recorded nine or more kills and hit .500 or better for SFA, led by Bates recording 11 kills with just one error on 20 attempts (.500). Walker played nearly flawless all morning for SFA, registering 10 kills with no errors on 15 attacks for a .667 clip while Allen posted nine kills on 16 swings with just one error to also hit .500. McIntyre finished with seven kills as well for SFA .
SFA held an 8-4 edge in blocking with Allen, Walker and Makenzee Hanna each recording three blocks in the victory. The Ladyjacks’ serving was also on point as SFA recorded six aces against Northeastern, including three from Shannon Connell and a pair from Bates. SFA was aided by seven serving errors by the Huskies as well.
Connell paced the way with 33 assists for the Ladyjacks with six digs while OJ Olson led the way with 11 digs for SFA. Lexus Cain and Courtney Schade each posted eight digs with McIntyre and Connell finishing with six each.
SFA returns to the court at Shelton Gym tomorrow with a pair of matches, facing South Dakota State at 10 a.m before facing Columbia at 3 p.m. Should SFA earn victories in both of those matches, it would give Humphreys her 600th career victory at the helm of the Ladyjacks.
2015 SFA Volleyball Invitational Day One Results
Match One: Texas Tech 3, Columbia 0
Match Two: SFA 3, Northeastern 0
Match Three: South Dakota State 3, Columbia 2
Match Four: SFA 3, Texas Tech 0
Match Five: Northeastern 3, South Dakota State 2
-SFA-
