Stephen F. Austin
Incarnate Word
McIntyre Fuels Ladyjacks' 3-1 Win at Incarnate Word
10/8/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Stephen F. Austin 3, Incarnate Word 1 | 23-25, 25-16, 25-15, 25-16 | Box Score
Records: Stephen F. Austin • 12-7, 5-1 Southland | Incarnate Word • 5-13, 1-5 Southland
Up next: at Abilene Christian (5-16, 4-2 Southland) | Thursday, Oct. 13 | 6:30 p.m. | Moody Coliseum
SAN ANTONIO - Prior to Saturday, road matches had been the one area in which the Stephen F. Austin volleyball team had struggled. Heading into their Southland Conference tilt at Incarnate Word, SFA was 0-4 in true road matches in 2016, but the Ladyjacks put all the pieces together in order to gain their first road win of the season and shake off their first league loss.
Abby McIntyre flirted with a career-high by pounding down a season-high 17 kills, Danae Daron produced seven blocks and the Ladyjacks overcame a slow start to defeat Incarnate Word 3-1 inside the McDermott Convocation Center on Saturday afternoon.
Everything was clicking for the Ladyjacks in their return to the Southland Conference win column as SFA hit .289, amassed 12.0 team blocks and totaled eight service aces. Taking charge in the front row was the freshman duo of Danae Daron and Ann Hollas. Daron tied her career high with seven block assists while Hollas showed off her versatility by notching a career-best three solo rejections to go along with a pair of block assists.
Riding high in their home facility and hoping to put an end to a two-match losing skid, the Cardinals came out as the aggressors early on in the Southland Conference battle. Through UIW’s 10-4 surge to open the set, the Cardinals accumulated three of their six service errors and took advantage of a pair of unforced SFA miscues.
The Ladyjacks were able to regain their composure by setting off on an 8-2 scoring run to tie the set at 12 points apiece. That deadlock was the first of nine in the opening set, the last of which occurred when McIntyre put down her fourth kill of the tilt to knot matters at 22-all. From there, however, the Cardinals took advantage of kills from Autumn Lockley and Sarea Alexander as well as their fourth ace to win the frame and open up a 1-0 lead. UIW’s crisp offense operated at a hitting clip of .292 in the frame, but following some adjustments on SFA’s end, UIW would not enjoy similar success through the rest of the tilt.
All of the high-level execution the Cardinals exhibited in the opening frame disappeared in the second one, helping the Ladyjacks knot matters at one set apiece. SFA took advantage of nine unforced errors by the home team and opened up the set with a 13-3 run. After being victimized by the Cardinals’ service ace assault in the first set, the Ladyjacks turned the tables on UIW by getting a pair of aces from Haley Coleman and another from Corin Evans.
McIntyre’s eight termination of the match handed the Ladyjacks their largest lead of the frame, 21-10, and although the Cardinals staged a late rally by capturing six of the set’s final 10 points SFA’s lead proved to be insurmountable.
Much like the Cardinals did in the first set, the Ladyjacks’ offensive execution proved to be the trump card in the third. A nearly flawless attacking operation in the frame saw SFA hammer down kills at a hitting rate of .684 (14 kills, 19 attempts, one error) and coupled with a 3-0 advantage in the blocking department, SFA cruised to a 25-15 victory. McIntyre struck for five kills in that set alone and added a block assist.
Thanks to two kills each from Peyton Redmond and McIntyre - as well as aces from Redmond and Daron - SFA opened up a 10-4 lead in the deciding frame. As smooth as their offense operated in the third set, the Ladyjacks’ defensive presence in the final frame was just as intimidating as SFA totaled five of its 12 team blocks through that span.
After Bryaunea Hall and Lockley combined for a block that trimmed SFA’s lead to 16-13, the Ladyjacks took off on a 7-2 run to take a 23-15 lead. Daron stood at the forefront of that surge, adding a trio of block assists and a kill while Lexus Cain served up SFA’s eighth ace of the match.
The day would not have been won, however, without the back-row defense of Evans, Coleman and Cain. That trio combined to produce 41 of SFA’s 66 team digs with Coleman and Evans tying for the team lead with 15 each. KK Payne added eight kills and four block assists off the bench while Redmond and Daron chipped in seven and six terminations respectively.
Now just 17 kills away from 1,000 in her career, Justice Walker put down four terminations to go along with a solo block and a block assist. Coleman and Evans punched in three kills each from their back row attacking positions in the win, too.
A rare one-match week awaits Stephen F. Austin and that sole tilt will take place away from Nacogdoches. Abilene, Texas, is the Ladyjacks’ destination next Thursday evening when they face off against Abilene Christian in Moody Coliseum at 6:30 p.m.
-SFA-
