Stephen F. Austin
24-2, 11-0SLC
McNeese
7-19, 5-6SLC
Balanced Offensive Attack Pushes SFA Past McNeese in Three
10/25/2018 8:22:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Ladyjacks extend nation's second-longest active winning streak to 21 matches
LAKE CHARLES, La. - Receiving a team-high nine kills from senior outside hitter Peyton Redmond and eight more from both Haley Coleman and Danae Daron, the SFA volleyball team extended its winning streak to 21 matches by dispatching McNeese, 3-0, inside Memorial Gym Thursday night.
Junior setter Ann Hollas put the wraps on her team-leading 11th double-double of the season with 21 assists and 14 digs. The Longview, Texas, product missed out on a triple-double effort by three kills as she finished with seven.
The win was the Ladyjacks' 10th-straight over the Cowgirls and helped SFA maintain its status as the top team in the Southland standings. The Ladyjacks upped their record to 24-2 and kept their Southland record perfect at 11-0.
SET ONE | SFA 25, McNeese 23
• Although SFA failed to hit above .185 in each of the first two sets, that didn't stop the Ladyjacks from using a strong defensive effort on the floor to draw first blood.
• McNeese raced out to an early 6-2 lead following two kills, a block, a service ace and a pair of SFA attack errors. The Cowgirls maintained that lead until an 8-2 surge by the Ladyjacks featuring kills from Coleman, Daron and Hollas put the visitors ahead 14-13.
• That set off a frantic run of back-and-forth volleyball that culminated with a 3-1 surge by McNeese that put the Cowgirls ahead 20-19. Much like they have all season, however, the Ladyjacks made all the right move at the end of the set to go up 1-0.
• Daron hammered down two more kills while Coleman and Anyia Williams added one each during SFA's 6-4 run to close the set. In all, Daron accumulated five of SFA's 14 terminations in the opening frame. Defensively, SFA scooped up 20 digs and held the Cowgirls to an attacking clip of .159 in the frame.
SET TWO | SFA 25, McNeese 21
• In the middle frame it was the Ladyjacks turn to go ahead early as senior outside hitter Peyton Redmond entered the match for the first time and put down a kill during SFA's 5-2 run to begin things.
• SFA's opening run laid the groundwork for the theme of the set as both teams reeled off runs of 4-0 on two occasions through the fast-paced frame.
• Up 12-8, SFA surrendered a 7-1 run to the Cowgirls that was finished with four consecutive points including two kills from Keegan Nelms to put the home team in front 15-13.
• After that McNeese scoring spree, SFA turned to its front-row defense to jump back in front. During the Ladyjacks' 8-2 run to go up 21-17, SFA posted three of its four blocks in the set.
• Though McNeese trimmed SFA's lead to 24-21 with consecutive kills by Paige Havel, a kill and an ace from Redmond represented half of the Ladyjacks' points in their 4-2 run to close the frame.
• The Ladyjacks limited McNeese to an attacking clip of only .056 in the frame.
SET THREE | SFA 25, McNeese 19
• Back-and-forth play was the theme of the final frame early on but by using a big service run led by Coleman in the middle of the set the Ladyjacks were able to gain the separation that needed to get the job done.
• Trailing 12-10, SFA posted six of the next seven points and received two terminations from Coleman and one each from Daron and Redmond.
• That put the visitors ahead 16-13 and ensured they wouldn't trail again. The offense of Redmond played a large part in the Ladyjacks' set three victory as the senior turned in five of her nine kills in the frame.
• The Ladyjacks' offensive efficiency peaked in the set as SFA hit .234 and put down 16 of its 40 terminations.
KEY PERFORMERS/STATISTICS OF NOTE
• Coleman's eight kills helped SFA to the win, but her team-high 18 digs may have helped out even more. The senior was one of three Ladyjacks with double-digit digs as freshman libero Sabrina Monaco scooped up 13 of her own.
• Daron, Hollas and Anyia Williams each put up a trio of block assists to help SFA claim a 7-4 edge in blocks over McNeese.
• Redmond fired in two of SFA's three service aces and added two block assists of her own to go along with her nine kills.
• For McNeese, Katelyn Elliott turned in a match-best 10 kills while adding a pair of block assists.
• The Cowgirls hit just .098, making them the second Southland Conference squad that SFA has held under .100 this season.
COMING UP NEXT
• Hoping to put the wraps on their first perfect October since 2014, the Ladyjacks head west back to the Lone Star State for their final match of the month. Saturday afternoon, SFA enters McDonald Gym to tangle with Southland Conference adversary Lamar at 1:00 p.m.
-SFA-
