Stephen F. Austin
14-5, 2-1SLC
Houston Baptist University
12-5, 4-1SLC
Ladyjacks Suffer First Southland Loss, Fall 3-0 at Houston Baptist
9/30/2017 2:52:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Coleman drives down 13 kills, but Huskies rack up 54 total terminations
HOUSTON - Two of the top defensive teams in the Southland Conference squared off inside Sharp Gymnasium Saturday afternoon when Stephen F. Austin met up with Houston Baptist, but it was the offense of the Huskies that proved to be the deciding factor as the Ladyajcks dropped a 3-0 decision to their league adversaries.
Junior Haley Coleman slammed down 13 kills for SFA, but was the lone Ladyjack to post double-digit terminations. For the Huskies, they received a match-best 21 of their 54 total kills off the hand of Bailey Banks while Ashtyn Richie added 10 on the strength of a .692 attack percentage.
For the Ladyjacks, the result represented their first Southland Conference of the season and their third in a row in matches played outside of Nacogdoches.
For as skilled as the two combatants were on defense, it was offense which defined the opening frame. Both squads hit above the .340 mark during the set and neither was able to post a lead of greater than two points. Playing from behind through most of the frame, the Ladyjacks captured a brief 12-10 advantage after a touch kill from Hollas followed by a block from Hollas and Hanna.
The Huskies, however, responded with a kill and one of their two service aces in the frame to bring the score even at 13. In all, there were 10 ties in the set and Evans provided the final one when she punched down a kill to make matters 20-20.
Following Evans' winner, Banks and Gargus responded in kind to push the hosts on top for the rest of the set. SFA managed to close within one points on two occasions down the stretch before Ashlyn Richey ended the set with a kill.
Daron started the middle frame by slamming down a pair of kills that helped the Ladyjacks jump out to an early 4-3 lead before the Huskies took control. A pair of blocks and a trio of kills represented the large part of a 6-1 surge by the hosts that put the Ladyajcks at a 9-5 disadvantage.
The Huskies' lead proved to be insurmountable and it grew to as much as six points after three straight terminations put SFA down 18-12 before the Ladyjacks made things interesting. Hanna submitted a kill and a service ace during a 7-2 SFA run that cut the Huskies' edge to 20-19, but HBU's offense refused to cool off and five more kills by the hosts put SFA in an 0-2 hole.
Wanting to finish the job in three sets, the Huskies took a quick 4-1 lead in the third and upped it to 12-9 before the Ladyjacks submitted a bid for extra frames. Coleman, Danae Daron and Peyton Redmond fired down two kills each during a 9-2 scoring spree by the visitors which pushed the Ladyjacks' lead to 18-14.
Unfortunately for SFA, the Huskies' offense continued to shine. Houston Baptist battled back with an 8-2 run that featured featured five kills and put the hosts up 22-20. The Ladyjacks' final push came when Coleman slapped two kills to the floor to help the visitors take a 23-22 lead, but the Huskies finished things with two more terminations and a ball-handling error from SFA to finish the match.
Both Makenzee Hanna and Danae Daron finished with three blocks for the Ladyjacks who did hold a 6-5 advantage in that category over their league rivals. Senior Lexus Cain dove for a match-high 18 digs, but the Huskies showed off some good all-around floor defense as four players finished with 10 or more digs.
Wednesday evening, the Ladyjacks return to their home floor of Shelton Gym for a Southland Conference match against New Orleans. First serve between the Ladyjacks and Privateers has been scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
-SFA-
