Stephen F. Austin
McNeese
Walker, Ladyjacks Hammer McNeese in Three Sets
9/29/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Stephen F. Austin 3, McNeese 0 | 25-21, 25-15, 25-23 | Box Score
Records: Stephen F. Austin • 10-6, 3-0 Southland | McNeese • 4-14, 0-3 Southland
Up next: vs. Nicholls (4-14, 0-3 Southland) | Saturday, Oct. 1 | 1:00 p.m. | Shelton Gym
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - For five matches in a row, it looked as though the Stephen F. Austin women’s volleyball team had found a tried and true lineup of nine individuals that let the team compete at a consistently high level night in and night out.
On Thursday evening against McNeese the Ladyjacks added an ‘X’ factor to their usual game plan, but the result was still a win.
Justice Walker put forth her third straight match of double-digit kills by totaling a match-high 13 on a .522 hitting percentage, Peyton Redmond and Ann Hollas added double-doubles and freshman Xariah Williams made her collegiate debut, giving the Ladyjacks yet another weapon to lean on in a 3-0 Southland Conference triumph over the Cowgirls.
Williams chipped in six kills as part of another balanced SFA attack and Redmond finished with 10 kills and 16 digs in her third double-double effort of the season. A simply overpowering front row defensive game plan resulted in the Ladyjacks combining for 11.5 team blocks in their third consecutive Southland Conference sweep.
“We needed to find some opportunities to get Xariah in some matches because she’s a player we’re going to need as the season continues,” said SFA head coach Debbie Humphreys. “I expected her to come out and make a big contribution to the match after seeing her practice over the past few weeks.”
Hollas passed out 35 of SFA’s 43 assists, serving as the motor of a .230 team attack percentage. Freshman Danae Daron was a fearsome force at the front of the net, compiling two solo rejections and another seven block assists. With her leading the way, McNeese was limited to a hitting percentage of only .115.
“Three blocks a set isn’t too shabby for you middle on any night, but Danae really brought it tonight,” Humphreys said. “She did well offensively with the balls we gave her, too, and the timing between Ann and Justice just keeps getting better and better.”
Most of the heavy lifting that was done early on came courtesy of Redmond who put down four of her 10 kills through the course of a 9-4 SFA run to open the match. Walker teamed with Redmond in that span, putting down two kills on her first three swings of the match that helped the Ladyjacks obtain their early edge.
McNeese never came back to take the lead in the frame, although consecutive kills from Katelyn Elliott trimmed SFA’s edge to 13-12. SFA’s scare ended when the Cowgirls committed a pair of service errors as part of a 3-1 Ladyjack run that handed control of things back to the home team.
Redmond and Walker slammed in back-to-back winners to make matters 24-19 SFA, and Walker finished things off with a powerful spike following a Ladyjack timeout which gave the home team a 1-0 lead with a 25-21 set one win.
Armed with a 1-0 lead, SFA made sure the Cowgirls posed no threat in the middle frame by leaping out to an early 12-5 lead. Walker struck for three more terminations, Abby McIntyre added a pair of her own and Daron added the first of two SFA service aces during the spree.
Sandwiched between two more Walker winners for the 20th and 21st SFA points of the frame was the insertion of Williams. The Arlington, Texas, product wasted no time in making her presence felt as she connected for two of the three kills SFA needed to take the set by a 25-15 score.
Following some adjustments made between the second and third sets, McNeese’s hitters finally got going and gave the Ladyjacks some trouble in the deciding frame as a result. Rae Myers and Elliott each contributed two kills to the Cowgirls’ cause, giving the visitors an 11-9 lead.
With that, Williams pounded down another kill that started a 9-0 run by the Ladyjacks. More strong defensive play in the front row manifested itself for the Ladyjacks as Williams chipped in two block assists while Daron added three more to her total through the spurt.
As it turned out, the Ladyjacks needed all of the points during their run as Myers added three more kills in a 9-4 McNeese run that made the Ladyjacks’ lead shrink to 22-20. After the Ladyjacks’ called their final timeout of the match, Walker swung down on two final kills and Williams finished the match by registering her sixth kill of the night.
Lexus Cain captained the Ladyjacks’ back-row defensive efforts by digging out a match-best 22 attack attempts.
For the third-straight season, the Ladyjacks closed out the month of September with an undefeated Southland Conference record. As the calendar flips to October, SFA finishes off a seven-match homestand by hosting Nicholls in Shelton Gym on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m.
-SFA-
