Stephen F. Austin
17-5, 5-1SLC
University of the Incarnate Word
3-12, 2-6SLC
Double Dose of Williams Helps Ladyjacks Clobber Incarnate Word in Three
10/12/2017 8:51:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Anyia Williams goes for 11 kills and five blocks - both match highs
SAN ANTONIO - Minus one of their regular starters Thursday night, the Stephen F. Austin volleyball team turned to a pair of Williams - Anyia and Xariah - to help the Ladyjacks keep pace in the race for the Southland Conference regular season crown.
For the second time in as many matches, freshman Anyia Williams put forth a double-digit kill effort by striking for a match-high 11 while hitting an impressive .647 to lead SFA past Incarnate Word 3-0 inside the McDermott Convocation Center. Absent from the Ladyjacks' lineup for the first time in 2017 was Makenzee Hanna who received a reprieve from action while getting back to 100-percent health.
Xariah Williams added six kills as did Danae Daron and the Ladyjacks racked up 11 blocks while limiting the Cardinals to an attacking clip of just .100 on the night. At the service line, the Ladyjacks owned a 6-1 advantage over their Southland Conference adversaries from the Alamo City with junior McKenzie Brewer providing a trio of those service winners.
A match-high five block assists came from Anyia Williams, too, and Corin Evans added five additional rejections to go along with seven kills and two service aces.
A new starting lineup configuration did not hamper the Ladyjacks' efforts in the slightest early on. Although they accumulated only 10 kills in the opening set - three fewer than the Cardinals - the Ladyjacks did so in a far more efficient manner. SFA hit .417 in the first frame, getting four kills on five errorless swings by Xariah Williams.
Three of Williams' kills came in a 6-1 SFA run to start the match and the Ladyjacks lead ballooned to double-digits on five occasions thanks in part to four Incarnate Word service errors in the set. In all, the Cardinals handed the Ladyjacks nine free points in set one by way of unforced errors and Anyia Williams added three block assists in the frame to help SFA cruise.
Outside of a 3-0 Incarnate Word surge that placed the home team on top 7-6 early on, the Ladyjacks never fell behind in a middle frame that proved to be far more competitive than the first. SFA responded to that 3-0 Cardinal run with a 4-1 scoring spree which was highlighted by service aces from Evans and Anyia Williams to push the visitors up 10-8.
In order to capture a win in the middle frame, the Ladyjacks had to withstand a late push from Incarnate Word. Leading 20-16, SFA gave up four of the next five points to the Cardinals who received terminations from three different players to cut the visitors' lead to 21-20. Out of SFA's timeout, Evans laced a kill down the line and followed up with a solo rejection which represented half of the Ladyjacks' 4-1 run to close out the frame and take a 2-0 lead.
The Cardinals' largest lead of the match came in the opening stages of the third set as the hosts received a kill, an ace and an SFA attack error to go up 3-0. That lead, however, did not last long as three Ladyjacks recorded kills during a 7-3 run which put the visitors ahead the rest of the way.
Anyia Williams accumulated three of her terminations through a 12-3 SFA run which turned the Ladyjacks' 5-6 disadvantage into a 17-9 lead. Daron and Haley Coleman chipped in two kills apiece throughout that scoring spree and Brewer's third and final ace upped SFA's lead to nine, 21-12, before all was said and done.
Ann Hollas turned in her eighth double-double of the season by going for 22 assists and a team-high 11 digs. Senior libero Lexus Cain added 11 digs as well, putting her nine away from moving up to ninth place all-time in career digs.
Autumn Lockley dropped in 10 kills for the Cardinals while freshman Madelynn Miller scooped up a match-best 14 digs.
Before returning to Nacogdoches for a three-match homestand, the Ladyjacks will make one final stop - this one in Corpus Christi, Texas - to put the wraps on their three-match Southland Conference road swing. Inside the Dugan Wellness Center, SFA will match up with two-time defending league titleholder Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 1:00 p.m.
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