Stephen F. Austin
11-2
rv Wichita State
4-5
Ladyjacks Collect Marquee 3-1 Victory over rv Wichita State in Denton
9/14/2018 1:28:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Hollas eclipses 2,000 career assists, is one of three Ladyjacks with 10 or more kills
DENTON, Texas - Earlier in the week the SFA volleyball team proved it has what it takes to go toe-to-toe with just about anyone with a raucous home crowd behind it. Heading into their final non-conference road trip of the regular season, however, the Ladyjacks knew they would have their hands full beginning with a high-profile matchup against rv Wichita State on a neutral court.
Though the number of purple-clad fans in the stands was a touch smaller this time, the Ladyjacks turned to one another and made use of some high-powered offense and a mighty front-row defensive effort to claim its best win of the season thus far.
Withstanding a late push by the Shockers, SFA received 10 or more terminations from Haley Coleman, Danae Daron and Ann Hollas and made use of a 10-5 advantage in blocks to claim a thrilling 3-1 victory over rv Wichita State in the Ladyjacks' first match of the North Texas Challenge Friday afternoon at the North Texas Volleyball Center.
Big leads were hard to come by in a match that featured 17 total service aces and a pair of teams that hit .250 or better, but SFA used some timely runs to get the upper hand on the nation's 38th-highest ranked team. Coming into the tilt, the Shockers had received six votes in the latest edition of the AVCA Coaches Poll and are coming off of a season in which they posted a 20-0 record in American Athletic Conference play and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
SET ONE | SFA 25, rv Wichita State 21
• At no point in the opening set did either team secure a lead greater than four points, but the Ladyjacks got their front-row defense set up early on to keep the Shockers guessing. During its 3-2 run to begin the match, SFA posted a pair of blocks - both of them combo rejections courtesy of Danae Daron and Makenzee Hanna.
• Wichita State managed to turn a two-point deficit into the set's 12th and final deadlock by receiving consecutive terminations from Megan Taflinger and Regan Stiawalt but the Ladyjacks final push was something the Shockers could not handle.
• Making her return to action after sitting out the previous six matches due to injury, sophomore middle blocker Anyia Williams slammed down two of her five set one terminations through SFA's 7-3 surge to end the frame. Daron and Hollas each added one while a trio of Wichita State attack errors provided the Ladyjacks with the three remaining points they needed to jump in front for good.
SET TWO | SFA 26, rv Wichita State 24
• A strong defensive effort went by the wayside for both squads in the second frame as neither squad hit below .450.
• This time the margin for error for the Ladyjacks was less as neither team was able to open up a lead of more than two points in the back-and-forth frame.
• Trailing 20-19, the Ladyjacks appeared to take control when Daron punched in two kills and teamed with Hanna for a block during a 3-0 run that made matters 22-20 SFA, but the Shockers responded with back-to-back points including a Giorgia Civita service ace to knot things at 22.
• At the end of the set, it was Coleman and Torres who were finally able to push the Ladyjacks ahead by two. Coleman took a feed from McKenzie Brewer and slammed home her fourth kill of the set before Torres served up a set-clinching ace.
SET THREE | rv Wichita State 25, SFA 23
• One of the only times Wichita State strung together a large amount of points in the match was in the third when the Shockers used a late run to prevent an SFA sweep.
• Trailing 8-5, the Ladyjacks reeled off five straight points courtesy of kills from Hollas and Anyia Williams, another ace from Torres as well as two unforced Wichita State attack errors to open up a 10-8 lead. The Ladyjacks increased their lead to 12-9 thanks to consecutive terminations from Peyton Redmond and Daron before the Shockers made their run.
• During Wichita State's 9-3 run that handed the Shockers an 18-15 lead, Tabitha Brown floored a trio of terminations that helped her squad take the lead for the remainder of the set.
• Wichita State pushed its lead to 23-19 with a 3-0 run and although a 4-1 Ladyjack run trimmed the Shockers' edge to 24-23 Alex Koon claimed the set for the Shockers with her third and final termination of the set.
SET FOUR | SFA 26, rv Wichita State 24
• Although SFA trailed just twice early on - both times by one point - the Shockers made things anything but easy thanks to a drama-filled final push.
• The Ladyjacks turned a 7-6 deficit into an 11-8 advantage by employing a 5-1 run that culminated with a service ace off the hand of Hollas.
• By keeping the pressure on the Shockers, SFA was able to push its lead to 24-18 following Redmond's last kill of the afternoon but the final point the Ladyjacks needed proved to be more elusive than expected.
• On the serve of Civita, Wichita State took off on a 6-0 run that knotted matters at 24. With a fifth set seeming more and more like a possibility, SFA instead finished off the Shockers with consecutive kills from Daron and Coleman.
KEY PERFORMERS/STATISTICS OF NOTE
• With a pair of powerful offenses duking it out, the dig numbers were not necessarily impressive for either team with the Shockers scooping up 42 compares to SFA's 31. Where the defensive numbers were the most pronounced, however, were in the blocking categories.
• In addition to her 10-kill, 30-assist double-double, Hollas was one of three players who totaled five blocks in the tilt. Anyia Williams also added five rejections as did Daron who conjured up SFA's lone solo stuff of the battle. Hanna stood strong at the front of the net as well and chipped in four to help SFA out-block the defending American Athletic Conference champions 10-5.
• Two of the Ladyjacks' primary offensive weapons - Daron and Hollas - hit .500 or better in the victory. Hollas topped all performers in the match by swinging at a clip of .600 while Daron punched down a team-high 12 terminations on the strength of a .500 hitting percentage.
• Coleman finished her afternoon with 10 terminations while Hanna added nine on an attack percentage of .412
• The match also featured a pair of hard-serving squads with the Shockers holding a slight 9-8 advantage in the ace department. Freshman Marisabel Torres served up a trio of the Ladyjacks' winners from the service line while Megan Taflinger did the same for the Shockers.
• Wichita State was led by Tabitha Brown's match-high 15 kills Setter Kali Eaten totaled a match-best 34 assists in the Shockers' fifth consecutive setback.
• Hollas became the seventh player in SFA history to reach the 2,000-assist mark. She entered the match needing nine to hit the 2,000-assist plateau and now has 2,021 for her collegiate career.
• SFA improved to 4-3 all-time against Wichita State with the victory. All four of the Ladyjacks' triumphs have come at neutral sites as well.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Head coach Debbie Humphreys | "Opportunities like this don't come around every day, and when they do our team really has to get itself ready to play on game day when we have something like this come our way. I was really pleased with the focus, energy and our preparation of our team today and at the end I thought we did a lot of good things. There was a little blip in the third set where we couldn't pass the ball as well as we needed to and then at the end of the fourth we've got a huge lead but allow them to come back and tie the match. We responded well once they did tie the match to finish things."
Junior middle blocker Danae Daron | "When Wichita State started coming back at the end of the fourth we knew we had to start fighting otherwise we were going to be playing a fifth set. As a team we just went back to focusing on SFA volleyball and what we're about. After that, we were able to play our game and come out with a win. I also felt like we were really disciplined with our blocking schemes today. They attacked us with a lot of sharp crosses or line shots but we were able to get around it and set things up the front row.
COMING UP NEXT
• Hoping to sustain the momentum they gathered with their win over the Shockers, SFA returns to the North Texas Volleyball Center on Saturday for its final two non-conference matches of the 2018 campaign. At 11:00 a.m., the Ladyjacks tangle with host and in-state Conference USA rival North Texas before battling the SEC's Mississippi State at 3:30 p.m.
-SFA-
