Stephen F. Austin
19-2, 6-0SLC
Northwestern State
6-10, 2-3SLC
Ladyjacks Shake off Slow Start, Defeat Northwestern State in Four
10/6/2018 1:03:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
SFA increases nation's longest active winning streak to 16 matches
NATCHITOCHES, La. - As the old adage goes, it's not how you start. It's how you finish.
Saturday afternoon inside Prather Coliseum, that phrase rang true for the SFA volleyball team and because of it the Ladyjacks were able to keep the nation's longest active winning streak intact.
After coming out of the gates slowly, the Ladyjacks recovered by bettering their passing, establishing their front row defense and operating a little crisper than how it had been to dodge Northwestern State's upset try and post a 3-1 victory over the Lady Demons.
SFA hit just .184 but limited the Lady Demons to a clip of .122 and used an 11-7 edge in blocks to get by their Louisiana rivals.
SET ONE | Northwestern State 25, SFA 20
• Senior middle blocker Makenzee Hanna gave the Ladyjacks the lead right out of the gates with a kill, but that was one of the lone highlights for the visitors in the opening set.
• Much like what happened in the opening set in Nacogdoches back on September 25, the Lady Demons made it a point to establish their block early on in the match. Northwestern State countered the Ladyjacks' 4-1 run to begin the frame with a 5-0 surge beginning with a combo block from Alexis Warren and Brooke Wood.
• Warren contributed a pair of terminations during that scoring spree as well and try as they might the Ladyjacks were never able to regain the lead.
• Trailing 20-16, the Ladyjacks made use of a termination from Haley Coleman and two more from Anyia Williams to begin a 4-0 run to knot matters at 20.
• Northwestern State answered with a set-clinching 5-0 run consisting of four kills and a service ace to put the Ladyjacks at a 1-0 disadvantage for the first time since Saturday, Sept. 14.
• SFA hit only .068 in the frame and Northwestern State racked up 26 digs and a trio of blocks.
SET TWO | SFA 25, Northwestern State 20
• This time it was the Lady Demons who jumped out to the early lead, using a pair of kills as well as a service ace to accumulate four of the first five points.
• Northwestern State remained in front for the majority of the set until SFA was finally able to return to its usual smooth operation on offense late in the frame.
• After Skylar Beach turned in another kill, SFA ended the frame on an 11-3 run powered by a pair of terminations from Danae Daron and one kill apiece from Ann Hollas and Coleman. Four unforced Northwestern State errors contributed to the Ladyjacks' big run as well.
• SFA hit .200 in the set and largely shut down the Lady Demons' offense by coming up with four rejections in the frame.
SET THREE | SFA 25, Northwestern State 15
• Three Northwestern State miscues and a termination by Daron helped the Ladyjacks jump out to an early 4-1 lead and junior outside hitter Xariah Williams pounded down a pair of kills to push the visitors' edge to 10-4.
• A service error by Coleman helped the home squads remain within five, 16-11, but Xariah Williams led a 9-4 charge to finish off the set and push the Ladyjacks ahead for the first time. The junior powered down another pair of kills and added a service ace during the spree.
• The Ladyjacks' offensive crescendo continued in the third as SFA hit at a .312 clip and added another trio of rejections to hold the Lady Demons' attack down to .121 in the frame.
SET FOUR | SFA 27, Northwestern State 25
• Keeping the foot on the gas pedal was of the utmost importance for the Ladyjacks in the final frame and it showed early on. During the visitors' 6-2 run to begin the frame, Coleman, Daron, Hanna and Xariah Williams pounded down kills while Daron also added a service ace to keep the Lady Demons off-balance.
• After that early burst of offense by SFA, Northwestern State took control by utilizing a 15-8 run to open up a 17-14 edge. Rogers contributed four terminations during the surge while Drake added a pair of her own.
• Wanting to avoid a fifth set against their Louisiana rivals, SFA regained control with a 9-2 run featuring terminations by Daron, Hanna, Anyia Williams and Xariah Williams. Daron and Hollas teamed up for a big-time block during that surge that put SFA up 23-19.
• The trend of nothing coming easy for the Ladyjacks continued from there, however, as Northwestern State reeled off five consecutive point to go up 24-23. Fortunately, a service error by Rogers stopped the Lady Demons' run and started a match-clinching 4-1 surge by the visitors to seal the deal.
• Anyia Williams teamed with Hanna once and Coleman another time for a pair of well-timed blocks to finish off the Ladyjacks' comeback victory.
KEY PERFORMERS/STATISTICS OF NOTE
• Continuing her sterling week of floor defense, freshman libero Marisabel Torres one-upped her Thursday night showing in Hammond, La., by racing down a career-high 26 digs. Those 26 scoops represent the most by an SFA player in a single match this season.
• Staying with the theme of floor defense, Coleman achieved a career milestone by registering the 1,000th dig of her career as part of her 13-kill, nine-dig outing. She added four of SFA's 22 block assists as well.
• For the second time in as many matches, Hollas turned in a double-double, passing out 25 assists to go along with 10 digs. Also accumulating 10 digs was Daron and that total represented a career-high for the Crosby, Texas, product. She was her usual efficient self on offense, too, totaling six kills while adding five blocks in the front row.
• Anyia Williams led SFA's front-row defensive effort with six block assists while also turning in seven kills. The other half of SFA's Williams duo - Xariah - conjured up eight kills and one of the Ladyjacks' two service aces.
• In order to earn the win, SFA had to counter a pair of big-time double-double outings by Northwestern State's Rogers and Warren. Rogers accumulated 17 kills and 22 digs while Warren added a 15-kill, 19-dig double-double.
• With the win, SFA improved to 19-2 and 6-0 in Southland Conference action to remain atop the league standings. The Ladyjacks also continued their all-time dominance over the Demons, upping their all-time record against Northwestern State (6-10, 2-4 Southland) to 53-5 (.914).
QUOTABLE
SFA head coach Debbie Humphreys on SFA's slow start | "We didn't pass well early on in the match and we weren't getting good quality swings. After that opening set we were able to settle down and be aggressive offensively. Through the match, though, I didn't think we were as sharp as we normally like to be but we countered that by playing hard and finding a way to win.
…on her message to the team between the first and second sets | "It was all about us being aggressive. Northwestern State has proven that it is a very good blocking team and they're not going to change that part of themselves on our account. We had to pass better and make the adjustments we needed to make to work around that block."
…on what SFA will continue to work on with just one match this coming week | "It's important that we get our offense really clicking on all cylinders because we need all of our options operating at a high level at all time. The way that we're built is to have stuff coming at you from every spot, so we need to focus on connecting real well and being sharp on a more consistent basis.
COMING UP NEXT
• Making their return to the Lone Star State, SFA will take part in just a single match next week. The Ladyjacks head to the Alamo City for a Thursday night Southland Conference clash at Incarnate Word. First serve at the McDemott Convocation Center has been set for 7:00 p.m.
-SFA-
