Stephen F. Austin
8-1
Texas Southern University
0-2
SFA Runs Over Texas Southern, 3-0, in 2017 Shelton Gym Debut
9/8/2017 9:30:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Ladyjacks hold Lady Tigers to negative attack percentage to win eighth straight
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Extending their winning streak to eight matches and continuing the best start to a season since 2005 by shutting down a late push by Texas Southern, the Stephen F. Austin women's volleyball team bested Texas Southern inside Shelton Gym Friday afternoon in the second match of the Holiday Inn Express SFA Invitational.
Danae Daron and Anyia Williams led the Ladyjacks attack on offense by driving down seven kills apiece. Those 14 combined terminations represented two-thirds of Texas Southern's entire kill total throughout the match and SFA's blocking defense had more than enough time to set up against the Lady Tigers' attackers.
Haley Coleman and Makenzee Hanna delivered four block assists each and the former furthered her defensive effort with a back row outing that saw the junior rack up a match-high 13 digs.
In all, 10 Ladyajcks registered kills with Ann Hollas (16 assists) and McKenzie Brewer (12) directing the offense. The latter fired in three of SFA's six aces to help keep Texas Southern - who was playing in its first match in two weeks - on its heels. The Lady Tigers were limited to an attack percentage of -.011 in the match while SFA hit at a .262 clip.
Through the first set, the Lady Tigers posed little to no threat to SFA as the Ladyjacks clocked their in-state rivals with an 11-1 scoring punch to start the match. Through that run, SFA totaled three of its eight total blocks with Evans coming up with one solo stuff and teaming with Hanna for a combo rejection.
Five of the nine points Texas Southern put up in the opening frame came by way of SFA miscues as the Lady Tigers' offense was ineffective. Texas Southern punched down only three kills against seven errors, finishing the set with an attack percentage of -.138.
The Ladyjacks, conversely, hit at a .370 clip by striking for 11 kills on just 27 swings with an error to jump out to an early 1-0 lead before the Lady Tigers made matters far more competitive the rest of the way.
One of only two leads Texas Southern took in the match came in the opening serve of set number two as Asia Howard fired in one of the Lady Tigers' two aces. Three straight attack errors by Texas Southern coupled with a pair of terminations from Evans quickly pushed SFA up 5-2 but the Lady Tigers stayed within three points before SFA increased the distance between itself and their adversaries with a late push.
Up 19-16, the Ladyjacks took off on a 6-1 run to close the frame and take a 2-0 lead. During that surge, Anyia WIlliams punched down two of her match-best seven kills and Lexus Cain chipped in her only service ace of the afternoon.
Texas Southern finished with a negative attack percentage once again, hitting -.037 by way of seven kills against eight errors, but the Ladyjacks' offensive effectiveness dipped as well as the home team struck at a .304 clip.
What looked like a set that would end up being a runaway win for the Ladyajcks got uncomfortable late as Texas Southern attempted to force a fourth set. Following a combo block by Kirby Anderson and DeSeanna Murphy that trimmed SFA's lead to 11-9, SFA used a 6-0 run consisting of three Texas Southern errors as well as kills from Daron, Hanna and Hollas to open up a 17-9 lead.
Following Daron's termination, the Lady Tigers reeled off 10 of the next 11 points around SFA's two timeouts of the set to jump ahead 19-18. During that run, the Lady Tigers churned out a pair of kills and three blocks in addition to being aided four unforced Ladyjack errors.
Eagleton, however, made sure Texas Southern's late lead didn't last long though. The sophomore skied for a kill which kick-started a 3-0 SFA run to put the home team back up for good.
The Lady Tigers made it a one-point set after Aundrea Boyland's kill cut the Ladyjacks' edge to 22-21 but a pair of Texas Southern attack errors and one final rejection from the duo of Coleman and Hanna locked up the Ladyjacks' eighth-straight triumph.
With only two triumphs separating the Ladyjacks from their first double-digit winning streak since 2014, SFA wraps up a two-match Friday inside Shelton Gym by tangling with Tulsa in the fourth and final match on day one of the Holiday Inn Express SFA Invitational.
-SFA-
