Stephen F. Austin
3-2
Northwestern
5-1
Ladyjacks Take One Set from Big Ten's Northwestern in New York
9/1/2018 2:56:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Coleman and Hanna tally 12 kills apiece for SFA
HAMILTON, N.Y. - Behind some strong front row defense, SFA rallied back from a set one deficit to secure an early 1-0 lead over Northwestern but the Wildcats responded by hitting .280 or better in two of the next three sets to collect a 3-1 triumph over the Ladyjacks Saturday afternoon.
Senior middle blocker Makenzee Hanna and senior outside hitter Haley Coleman each dropped in a team-high 12 terminations for SFA who was playing its second of three matches in the Ellis Rowland Memorial Invitational at Colgate University.
"The result wasn't what we wanted, but overall I was extremely pleased with our effort this afternoon," commented SFA head coach Debbie Humphreys. "Northwestern has six really strong pieces on offense and is an athletic team that plays the game so far above the net so it presents us with a challenge that we don't see all the time.
"At the end of the day, we hit .204 against a Big Ten team, we blocked well and we were able to limit our share of silly mistakes," continued Humphreys. "That bodes well and if we are able to build on our effort and execution in this one then we're going to be just fine."
SET ONE | SFA 26, Northwestern 24
• Neither team hit above .155 in the opening set, but early on Northwestern appeared in control by opening the Big Ten/Southland battle on a 10-2 run.
• Three unforced errors by Northwestern coupled with kills by Hanna, Danae Daron and Peyton Redmond helped SFA go on a 6-2 run and trim the Wildcats' lead to 14-10 in order to set the stage for a wild finish.
• Following Abryanna Cannon's sixth termination of the set, SFA was at a 23-20 disadvantage before Hanna sparked a comeback by pounding down kill number five.
• Through the Ladyjacks' 6-1 run to end the frame, Hanna, Coleman and Anyia Williams each submitted a kill while the latter teamed up with Ann Hollas on two occasions to provide a pair of blocks through SFA's set-clinching surge.
SET TWO | Northwestern 25, SFA 21
• Defense was at a minimum in the second frame as neither squad hit below .419. Northwestern, however, was able to get the upper hand and knot matters at one set apiece by slamming home 16 kills on 26 swings against just two errors for an attack percentage of .538 in the set.
• SFA never led, but did manage to tie the match on six occasions. The last deadlock came when Coleman put down her second termination of the frame to make matters 15-15.
• Following Coleman's winner, however, Northwestern gained the upper hand by securing six of the next seven points. Three Wildcats notched a kill and Northwestern added a solo rejection and one of its nine service aces to go up 21-16.
• Back-to-back kills from Hanna and Anyia Williams helped SFA stave off two potential match points before a Ladyjack service error ended the frame and tied things at one.
SET THREE | Northwestern 25, SFA 19
• The Ladyjacks were able to limit Northwestern's attack to a mark of only .282 in the set, but SFA mustered just nine kills and turned in a hitting percentage of only .121 on the other side.
• Northwestern opened things on a 4-1 run and notched six kills as well as a pair of service aces through its first 10 points of the set. Redmond shot down a kill that cut the Wildcats' lead to 9-7 but Northwestern answered with a 7-2 run to open up a 16-9 lead.
• That lead shrank to 17-13 following a 3-0 SFA run capped with another termination by Redmond before the Wildcats responded by racking up the next five points to open up a 22-13 lead.
• SFA fought off four set point tries by Northwestern before Ella Grbac put the Wildcats up 2-1 with a frame-clinching kill.
SET FOUR | Northwestern 25, SFA 19
• A pair of 4-0 runs and another one of the 6-0 variety early on gave Northwestern the edge in the final frame.
• Right after Hanna slammed down a kill to tie things at four points apiece, Northwestern reeled off six points in a row - five of which came thanks to kills.
• Coleman led a comeback attempt by SFA by turning in a trio of terminations during a 5-0 run by the Ladyjacks that trimmed Northwestern's lead to 16-13.
• From there, NU went back up by seven with a 4-0 run and used a similar scoring spree to end the match after a solo rejection by Anyia Williams had pulled SFA within two, 21-19.
KEY PERFORMERS | STATS OF NOTE
• Deploying the two-setter system once again, SFA finished with a team-high 23 assists from Ann Hollas and 14 more from senior McKenzie Brewer. They directed a Ladyjack attack that hit .204 in the program's first matchup against a Big Ten adversary since 2014.
• Sabrina Monaco (13 digs) was joined in double-digit dig territory by senior Peyton Redmond who scooped up 10 to go along with her seven kills, one dig and one block assist.
• Though she turned in just five kills, sophomore Anyia Williams was a far more steady presence at the front of the new. Williams' five total rejections (one solo, four assisted) represented a team high.
• Both Hanna (.385) and Coleman (.310) attacked at a clip north of .300, making them the only Ladyjacks to do so through the four-set battle.
• For Northwestern, three players led its offensive attack with Abryanna Cannon and Ella Grbac tying for match-high honors in kills by pounding down 16 apiece. Nia Robinson added 15 more on the strength of a match-best .560 attack percentage.
• Cannon finished with four of the Wildcats' 18 block assists while Olivia Viscuso totaled six rejections (one solo, five assisted) to go along with two of the team's nine service aces.
• In addition to her 16 kills, Cannon added 12 digs to complete a double-double effort. In all, five Wildcats scooped up 10 or more digs and three finished with double-doubles including the setting tandem of Kiara McNulty (23 assists, 12 digs) and Britt Bomer (24 assists, 12 digs).
• Outside of the second set, SFA was able to limit Northwestern's effectiveness on offense by holding the 'Cats to a hitting percentage of .265 through the non-conference tilt.
COMING UP NEXT
• For the third time in program history, SFA will go toe-to-toe with Patriot League foe Colgate when the team squads square off in the final game of the Ellis Rowland Memorial Invitational. First serve at Cotterell Court is set for 6:00 p.m. CT/7:00 p.m. ET.
-SFA-
