Stephen F. Austin
26-7
#8 Abilene Christian University
12-17
SFA Upset by Eighth-Seeded ACU, 3-2, in SLC Tournament Quarterfinals
11/17/2017 2:32:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Four Ladyjacks post 13 or more kills as
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - In control after posting a decisive win in the opening set, the top-seeded Stephen F. Austin volleyball team saw that control wrested from it by an eighth-seeded Abilene Christian squad that won three of the next four sets to claim a 3-2 win in the first round of the 2017 Southland Conference Tournament Friday afternoon at the Dugan Wellness Center on the campus of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
The loss took SFA out of the running for the Southland Conference's automatic NCAA Tournament bid and dropped the Ladyjacks' record to 26-7.
Junior Makenzee Hanna put forth an excellent effort, going for a match-high 14 kills and six blocks while sophomore Danae Daron finished with 13 kills and a match-best seven rejections. In all, four Ladyjacks posted double-digit kills with Haley Coleman (13) and Corin Evans (13) rounding out that quartet.
Coleman and Ann Hollas finished with double-doubles in the loss and while SFA did hold an advantage in most every statistical category it was the inability to slow down the Wildcats' attack consistently that did the Ladyjacks in.
Putting the clamps on Abilene Christian's offensive operation in the opening set, SFA generated four blocks while limiting the Wildcats to just nine kills on an .029 hitting percentage through the frame. After Abilene Christian opened up a 3-1 and continued to lead 5-4, Hanna led the top-seeded Ladyjacks on a 6-1 run to take the lead for the rest of the frame.
Through that surge, the 2017 All-Southland Conference Second Team choice submitted a pair of blocks as well as a kill and a service ace. Twice the Wildcats closed to within a point but each time the Ladyjacks responded with kills to prevent the eight-seed from knotting things up.
Leading 17-15, SFA put Abilene Christian away with a 7-1 surge in which Hanna delivered a pair of kills and Corin Evans added a service ace.
The emergence of Abilene Christian's offense started in the second frame. Down 8-6, SFA turned to Daron who delivered two kills and a block assist during a 5-1 Ladyjack run that pushed the top seed up 11-9. From there, however, Abilene Christian asserted itself on offense by driving down five kills during a 7-1 run that ensured the eight-seed wouldn't trail for the rest of the set.
Daron punched in a termination late in the set to knot matters at 20-20 but three unforced SFA errors and two ACU kills represented the Wildcats' entire point total during a 5-1 run to close the set and tie things at one.
The Wildcats hot-hitting ways carried over to the third set as they opened the frame with a 6-1 run that included five kills by four different players. Although SFA held a brief 9-8 lead and battled back to produce a 22-22 deadlock after a kill from Hanna, the Wildcats' fast start was just too much to overcome.
After Hanna's termination tied things up, SFA committed two more unforced errors and a Jacey Smith kill finished the set and handed the Wildcats a 2-1 lead. After posting a hitting percentage of only .029 in the opening set, ACU attacked at a clip of .351 in the third frame to jump ahead.
Maintaining control of the match through the beginning portion of the fourth set, ACU opened up a 14-9 lead before the Ladyjacks were finally able to string some points together. On the serve of Cain and Corin Evans, SFA took off on an 11-2 to run in order to open up a 20-16 edge on the Wildcats. Cain posted a service ace while Evans added a trio of terminations throughout the run.
By receiving two kills from Coleman and another from Evans, SFA closed out set four by a 25-22 tally and set up a decisive final frame. Coleman turned in a kill before Eagleton and Evans combined for a rejection that handed the Ladyjacks a 2-1 lead - one of just two early advantage SFA had in the set.
Following a kill from Daron that made it 3-2 SFA, ACU scored three straight points to go up for good. Twice in the final stages of the match the Ladyjacks trimmed the Wildcats' lead to just two, including when back-to-back kills by Evans and Hanna staved off a pair of match-point tries by the Wildcats, but the last of SFA's eight service errors ended the match.
Lorin McNeil paced ACU's attack by striking for a match-high 14 kills on an attack percentage of .462. She added four blocks while both Kendall Bosse and Lauren Walker sprung for five rejections.
The Ladyjacks' season is not over, however, as SFA was an automatic qualifier for the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) which was reincarnated in December of 2016 following a 21-year absence. By winning the Southland Conference regular season title, the Ladyjacks earned a direct bid to the NIVC and the 32-team field for the event will be announced on Sunday, Nov. 26.
-SFA-
