Stephen F. Austin
5-1
Grambling State University
1-5
SFA Makes Short Work of Grambling State, Extends Win Streak to Five
9/1/2017 7:28:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Evans submits match-highs in kills (eight) and aces (four) as Ladyjacks cruise
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Sixty-two minutes was all the time it took for the Stephen F. Austin volleyball team to extend its winning streak to five matches.
In its second match on the opening day of the Mississippi State Bulldog Invitational, SFA eased by Grambling State 3-0 and did not allow the Tigers to reach the 15-point plateau in any of the three sets. The win was the fifth-straight for the Ladyjacks - the team's longest streak of successes since the 2015 season.
Five Ladyjacks put down five or more kills in a varied and efficient offensive effort. Tops among that group of kill leaders was sophomore Corin Evans who racked up a match-high seven while leading an effort to keep the Tigers on their heels on the serve receive. Evans reset her career-high by firing in four of the Ladyjacks' eight service aces.
Lexus Cain and Ann Hollas each finished with a pair of aces as well which complimented other match-highs they notched. Cain scooped up 14 digs while Hollas passed out 17 assists that helped the Ladyjacks total 31 kills while hitting .284.
As productive as the Ladyjacks' offensive operation was, Grambling State's was anything but. The Lady Tigers finished with 22 errors against 17 kills, finishing with a negative attack percentage of -.053. That had something to do with an SFA front line that finished the match with a 9-1 advantage in blocks. Shayla Eagleton came up with four block assists and Hanna conjured up a solo rejection to go along with three block assists of her own.
That SFA defensive effort was apparent from the get-go as the Ladyajcks racked up a pair of rejections through a 9-4 run to open the match. Grambling State remained within four points after a termination from Chasity Nicks made the score 14-10, but SFA quickly put things out of reach with a 7-0 run that featured three of Haley Coleman's six kills on the night.
Evans ended the first frame with the last of SFA's 14 kills and helped the Ladyjacks hit at a rate of .440 in the set.
A total of six Ladyjacks slammed home kills in an 11-3 SFA run to begin the middle frame and Evans increased SFA's edge to 14-5 by dropping in back-to-back aces from behind the line. The Ladyjacks' advantage grew to double-digits for the first time in the frame when Alexis Alexander and Peyton Redmond teamed up for a rejection up front. Following that block, SFA's lead never dipped below nine for the rest of the set.
Grambling State's only lead of the match came when Jaivienna Jones put down a kill for the first point of the third set. The squads went back-and-forth and were all tied up at five before SFA reeled off six points in a row to take an 11-5 lead.
SFA's set three advantage hit double-digits for the first time when Cain ended a 4-0 SFA run with the last of her two aces to make matters 20-10. Five of the next eight points - including Redmond's match-ending kill - went to the Ladyjacks to close things out.
A sizable contingent of SFA's freshman class made an impact in the match as well, including Margaret Dean who finished with 13 assists in her second collegiate outing. Taking part in her first SFA volleyball match, first-year player Alexander contributed a pair of kills to the cause and Anyia Williams added season-highs in kills (five) and digs (three) during the victory. Morgan Hinds and Reagan Humphreys also made their collegiate debuts in the win.
Early Saturday morning, the Ladyjacks put their five-match win streak on the line when they hit the court for their first showdown with an SEC foe in over two years. At 9:00 a.m., SFA hits the court of the Newell-Grissom Building to tangle with host Mississippi State. The match will be streamed live on SEC Network+.
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