Stephen F. Austin
26-6, 14-2Southland
Lamar University
4-22, 2-14Southland
Southland Strongest: Ladyjacks Rock Lamar 3-0 to Collect 2017 Southland Conference Title
11/11/2017 3:12:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Daron drives down 11 kills, Redmond adds 10 as Ladyjacks claim program's ninth Southland Conference regular season crown
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Headed into Saturday's regular season finale, the Stephen F. Austin volleyball team had already clinched at least a share of the 2017 Southland Conference regular season title. That meant there was a chance for Central Arkansas to claim a share of it as well with a win coupled with an SFA loss.
As it turned out, there would be no sharing as the Ladyjacks were feeling greedy.
Danae Daron drove down a match-high 11 kills, added three blocks and Peyton Redmond delivered 10 kills while her emphatic final block of the match set off a raucous celebration inside Shelton Gym as the Ladyjacks laid claim to an outright Southland Conference regular season title by blasting Lamar 3-0 in the regular season finale for both squads.
Already assured at least a share of the 2017 league crown thanks to a loss by Central Arkansas on Thursday night, SFA made sure the Sugar Bears had zero chance to claim a portion of the regular season title by putting together another fine all-around effort to clip the Cardinals' wings.
As a team, SFA hit .277 and held the Cardinals to an attacking clip of .144 behind a stout all-around defensive outing. Shayla Eagleton complemented her team-high five blocks with four kills while senior Lexus Cain - who was honored in a brief pregame ceremony alongside fellow final-year player Sam Rodriguez - dug up a match-best 16 balls.
Ann Hollas posted her 12th double-double effort of the season by passing out 33 assists to go along with 14 digs. Not only did she directly the offense, Hollas made sure to keep the Cardinals on their toes on the serve-receive by racking up three of SFA's five aces.
SFA's 3-0 run to begin the match was countered with a 5-0 scoring surge by the Cardinals who maintained the lead until consecutive kills from Daron pushed the Ladyjacks ahead 7-6. From there, SFA never fell behind for the remainder of the set.
Another Daron termination upped the Ladyjacks' lead to 24-20 late in the frame before Lamar chirped back.
Pushing back by thwarting three set point attempts by SFA, Lamar could not force extra point as the Ladyjacks took a 1-0 lead after a service error by Murielle Hlavac. Two of SFA's last four points in the set came off of Lamar service miscues.
Once again, the Cardinals played things close early on before SFA's offense put Lamar back on its heels. Redmond, Evans, Hanna and Hollas each slammed home a termination during a 4-0 SFA run that broke a 5-5 deadlock and put SFA ahead for the remainder of the frame.
That run was the start of something good for the Ladyjacks' offense which refused to cool down in the middle frame. SFA racked up 17 kills in that frame alone including four off the hand of Daron and three more from Hanna. Up 20-10, SFA committed four errors down the stretch which helped Lamar close the gap before a combo block from Hollas and Eagleton closed out the frame.
Eager to force at least four sets in their final match of the season, Lamar held the lead for the majority of the third and final frame before a well-timed 6-0 run by the Ladyjacks gave the momentum back to the team in purple.
Down 18-17, SFA started its match-clinching surge with a kill from Corin Evans who then stepped to the service line and kept the pressure on Lamar who committed a trio of unforced errors that helped SFA take the lead.
Redmond added a pair of kills during that run and after it SFA's lead stood at 23-18. An attack error by Lamar followed by Redmond and Hanna's joint rejection sealed the deal for the Ladyjacks.
The next goal for the Ladyjacks is to gain the Southland Conference's automatic berth to the 2017 NCAA Tournament. SFA's quest to do just that begins in Corpus Christi, Texas, early Friday morning as the top-seeded Ladyjacks do battle with eighth-seeded Abilene Christian in the quarterfinal round of the Southland Conference Tournament. First serve is set for 11:00 a.m. inside the Dugan Wellness Center.
-SFA-
