Stephen F. Austin
21-5, 9-1Southland
Nicholls
4-20, 2-9Southland
SFA Dismantles Nicholls, 3-0, for Seventh-Straight Southland Victory
10/21/2017 2:50:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Coleman hits .500 with 10 kills, Hollas delivers a career-best four service aces
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Surrounded by a number of alumni, the Stephen F. Austin volleyball team - clad in special warm-up shirts honoring head coach Debbie Humphreys' 30th year in charge of the program - gave its homecoming crowd a powerful show at the expense of Southland Conference foe Nicholls.
For the third time in 2017, SFA hit at a clip of at least .400 and that accurate attack plan - as well as an 8-0 advantage in service aces - helped the Ladyjacks cruise past Nicholls 3-0.
SFA remained within one-half game of Southland Conference-leading Sam Houston State who bested Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in five sets down in Huntsville. Directing SFA's efficient offense was sophomore Ann Hollas who passed out a match-best 23 assists and tied her career high with four winners from the service line.
Four of the Ladyjacks' attackers hit at a clip of .500 or higher, helping SFA's attack percentage settle at .400 for the match. Junior Haley Coleman put down a team-best 10 kills while Anyia Williams added eight. Both of the aforementioned heavy-hitters attacked at a clip of .500 and defensively there wasn't much Nicholls could do against the Ladyjacks' jumpy front line.
Both Danae Daron and Anyia Williams finished with five block assists while Makenzee Hanna finished with four to go along with her five kills. Nicholls hit only .155 as a result of SFA's stout defense.
Nicholls posed almost no threat to the Ladyjacks' current run of home-court dominance in the opening set. The Colonels generated the first kill of the match to take a brief 1-0 lead before the hosts reeled off the next five points culminating with an ace from Coleman to take a 5-1 lead.
Through the opening frame, SFA hit a blistering .421 and committed only one error compared to the .036 attack percentage the Colonels finished with. Although the Ladyjacks only totaled nine kills in the frame, they were aided by four Nicholls service errors, four unforced attack errors and one errant set to take the first frame easily. A 6-0 scoring run in which three Ladyjacks posted kills and Coleman added another ace pushed the Ladyjacks' lead to 20-7.
Wanting to tie things at one set each, the Colonels battled back in the middle frame and hit .419 to make things interesting. Fourteen of the visitors terminations came in that set, nine of which helped them obtain an 11-9 edge before SFA responded with some well-timed offense of its own.
Peyton Redmond punched down a pair of kills, Anyia Williams added one of her own and McKenzie Brewer finished the Ladyjacks' 4-1 run with a service ace that put the hosts up 13-12. From there, SFA never trailed for the rest of the set but needed to put the Colonels away with one final run.
That surge came in the form of a 5-1 run featuring terminations from Coleman, Hanna and Redmond that broke a 15-15 deadlock and put SFA on top 20-16. Nicholls had no answer for that run and although the trimmed SFA's lead to just three points, the Ladyjacks came through in the clutch with a 3-0 run to end the set and take a 2-0 lead.
Two more Nicholls errors helped SFA start the final frame on a 6-2 run and although the Colonels were able to close to within one, 7-6, an 8-1 Ladyjack run in which both Coleman and Hollas delivered a pair of kills upped the hosts' edge to 15-7.
The Ladyjacks' attack plan continued to go off mostly without a hitch as the hosts hit .394 with only one error in 33 attempts throughout the frame. Three of the team's 14 kills - including two off the mitts of Anyia Williams - came during a 5-1 run to end the match.
Next up for the Ladyjacks is a journey to the Big Easy which represents the starting point of a two-match road trip through the state of Louisiana. On Thursday evening at 6:30 p.m., SFA tangles with New Orleans inside the Human Performance Center.
-SFA-
