Stephen F. Austin
1-0
Memphis
0-1
Ladyjacks Blast Memphis, 3-0, for First Season-Opening Win Since 2016
8/24/2018 8:27:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Daron and Anyia Williams go for five blocks each
MEMPHIS - The start of the Friday night's season-opening match at Memphis wasn't exactly the kind the Ladyjacks wanted but by the time things wrapped up the defending Southland Conference champions had received just the right amount of balance both on offense and defense to enter the win column.
Paced by a balanced attack in conjunction with a powerful front-row defensive effort, the Stephen F. Austin volleyball team overpowered Memphis, 3-0, at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse Friday night to secure its first season-opening win since 2016.
Junior Danae Daron led the Ladyjacks on offense by hammering down nine kills on the strength of a .417 attack percentage but also gave the Tigers fits on defense by racking up five total blocks (one solo, four assisted).
Peyton Redmond added eight terminations while sophomore Anyia Williams served as potent two-way force by accumulating six kills and adding five rejections.
SET ONE | SFA 25, Memphis 22
• Seven of the first nine points went to Memphis and the Tigers held onto that lead through the majority of the frame until SFA used its service game and defense to obtain its first lead of the match.
• Trailing 17-15, SFA received a combo rejection from Anyia Williams and Ann Hollas as well as a service ace from Haley Coleman which capped a 3-0 run to put the visitors up for the remainder of the set.
• Though Memphis battled back to tie things at 18-all, SFA turned to junior Ann Hollas to push them to the finish line. The setter out of Longview, Texas, punched down three kills of her own and assisted on one of Daron's as part of a 2-0 SFA surge to end the match after Memphis countered with a 3-0 burst.
SET TWO | SFA 25, Memphis 20
• Consecutive terminations off the hands of Daron and Coleman started the Ladyjacks' 3-0 run in the opening moments of the middle set and SFA never trailed.
• Twice throughout the frame the set SFA opened up leads of six points, the second time coming when Anyia Williams teamed with Makenzee Hanna for a block before the sophomore
pounded down a kill to make matters 20-14.
• Memphis did manage to trim the Ladyjacks' lead down to 21-19 with a 5-1 run, but this time senior Peyton Redmond stepped up to make sure the Tigers would not complete their comeback.
• The senior slammed home three kills and freshman libero Sabrina Monaco added a service ace as part of a 4-1 run to put SFA one set away from victory.
• SFA hit .222 in the frame and out-blocked the Tigers 3-2 which helped limit the home team to a hitting clip of .030 through the set.
SET THREE | SFA 25, Memphis 23
• With Memphis looking to extend the match and SFA aiming to finish it off, the teams battled back and forth throughout most of the last set before Haley Coleman keyed a 3-0 run midway through things.
• As the scoreboard read 13-13, Coleman kick-started a 3-0 SFA run with a kill followed up with a service ace before Redmond and Anyia Williams ended the surge with a block.
• Hannah Flowers made a bid for extra sets by hammering in three kills during a 4-1 run that put the Tigers back up 21-20 but SFA took advantage of a multitude of unforced errors by
the home squad to complete the sweep.
• Coleman put down the only kill for SFA during its 5-2 run to end the match. The Ladyjacks' other four points came off of two errant attacks, a bad serve and a ball handling error by the Tigers.
KEY PERFORMERS | STATS OF NOTE
• Hollas finished five kills shy of a triple double, instead settling for a double-double with a match-high 17 assists to go along with 12 digs.
• No SFA player exceeded nine kills, but two players (Daron and Hollas) hit .333 or higher. Daron led all players with a .471 attack percentage.
• In her first collegiate start at libero, Monaco came up with a match-high 14 digs to go along with three assists and one of SFA's seven service aces.
• Coleman and McKenzie Brewer added two aces each while the latter passed out an additional 14 of the team's 35 assists. Those 14 assists helped the senior move past 700 for her collegiate career.
• For the match, SFA owned a 10-4.5 advantage in blocks and four players finished with four or more rejections. Senior Makenzee Hanna amassed four of those stuffs to go along with two kills.
• As a team, SFA hit .231 while holding the Tigers to a clip of .122.
COMING UP NEXT
• Two conference powerhouses - one from the Southland and the other from the Sun Belt - duke it out at 10:00 a.m. Saturday morning at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse when SFA meets Arkansas State. Both teams are 1-0 heading into Saturday's match which is the first part of a two-match day for SFA. The Ladyjacks will finish their slate in Memphis with a 4:30 p.m. battle against Arkansas-Pine Bluff Saturday afternoon.
-SFA-
