Stephen F. Austin
14-2, 1-0Southland
Central Arkansas
10-4, 0-1Southland
Ladyjacks Shut Down UCA's High-Powered Attack, Sweep Sugar Bears in Southland Opener
9/22/2018 3:16:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Coleman generates 12 kills, Williams leads SFA in blocks as Ladyjacks beat UCA for second-straight time
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - In a premier early season Southland Conference volleyball battle, SFA once again rode its tried and true game plan of strong front-row defense and an array of attackers on offense to take round one of their season series against Central Arkansas.
A capacity crowd inside Shelton Gym didn't hurt, either.
Senior Haley Coleman racked up a match-high 12 kills to lead the Ladyjacks' offense while the trio of Anyia Williams (six blocks), Danae Daron (five blocks) and Makenzee Hanna (four blocks) helped put the clamps on Central Arkansas' high-powered offense to lead the Ladyjacks to a 3-0 victory in their 2018 Southland Conference opener inside Shelton Gym Saturday afternoon.
SFA posted a 12-7 advantage in blocks over their league adversaries from the Natural State to run their winning streak over defending Southland Conference Tournament champions to two matches. With the win, SFA's 11th in a row, the Ladyjacks remain the NCAA Division I volleyball team with the most victories thus far in 2018 while their 11-match win streak is the second-longest active streak in the nation.
The Ladyjacks, who won the Southland's regular season title one season ago, were picked to finish first in the 13-team league in its 2018 preseason poll while Central Arkansas was tabbed for a runner-up finish.
SET ONE | SFA 26, Central Arkansas 24
• SFA may have produced the first point of the match due to a ball handling error by the visitors, Central Arkansas took control with an early run before it started misfiring in the middle of the set to push the Ladyjacks in front.
• Central Arkansas manufactured four of the next six points following its ball handling error to open up a 5-3 lead. That edge remained after a service error by Margaret Dean made matters 13-12 in favor of the visitors.
• From there, Haley Coleman kick-started a 6-2 SFA run with the second of her three terminations in the set. UCA's Samantha Anderson committed a trio of unforced attack errors though that SFA scoring surge to make matters 18-15 in favor of the home team.
• UCA made use of a 6-2 run to move in front 22-21 but after trading points SFA made a move to win the set. Trailing 23-22, the Ladyjacks watched Makenzee Hanna pound down a kill and begin a 4-1 run which featured a pair of combo blocks from Coleman and Anyia Williams.
• Ann Hollas' third and final kill of the set finished off the Sugar Bears and gave SFA the lead.
SET TWO | SFA 25, Central Arkansas 22
• With the momentum in their corner, the Ladyjacks made sure not to lose it by receiving kills from Coleman and Hanna during their 3-0 run to start the set.
• SFA never trailed in the frame, but Central Arkansas kept it close by turning it up a notch on offense. After hitting .119 in the first frame, the Sugar Bears attacked at a clip of .200 and managed to trim SFA's lead to 16-14 after a termination from Haley Tippett.
• From there, Danae Daron capped a 3-0 SFA run with a kill before Central Arkansas embarked on a 7-2 run that tied matters at 21.
• Fortunately, Coleman and Daron made sure that was as close as the Sugar Bears got. Those two accounted for all of the Ladyjacks' three kills during their 4-1 run to end the frame and take a 2-0 lead.
SET THREE | SFA 27, Central Arkansas 25
• A huge run early in the set - made possible largely by the play of Daron - was the difference as SFA wound up closing out the Sugar Bears in three sets.
• The junior turned in two kills, two block assists and one solo rejection to lead SFA on a 7-2 run to open the frame.
• SFA's offense peaked in the set as the Ladyjacks hit .308 with 17 terminations but they had to hold off a late rally by the visitors to get the job done. Up 20-15, the Ladyjacks watched as Central Arkansas took off on a 10-4 run to move ahead by a 25-24 score.
• With a fourth set looking like a possibility, SFA went to Anyia Williams who started a match-clinching 3-0 run with her final kill of the afternoon. One ace from Coleman and a combo block from Hollas and Anyia Williams later and the Sugar Bears were done for.
KEY PERFORMERS/STATISTICS OF NOTE
• Coleman put the finishing touches on her second double-double of the season by diving for a team-high 13 digs. The senior also generated both of the Ladyjacks' service aces on the afternoon to keep the Sugar Bears on their toes.
• Despite Coleman being the only player who finished with a double-digit termination total, the Ladyjacks got their fair share of accurate attacks from a number of other individuals to get the job done. Hanna hit a match-best .444 and racked up nine terminations to go along with her flour blocks. Senior Peyton Redmond added eight kills and another 12 digs.
• Continuing her high-level kill prevention, Anyia Williams established a new career high by racking up six block assists. Those six tied the sophomore's career high in total rejections and between she, Danae Daron (five blocks), Hanna (four blocks) and Coleman (four blocks) the Ladyjacks made UCA's attack plan deal with its share of difficulties.
• Hollas led the way with 21 assists while senior McKenzie Brewer inched closer to 1,000 of them for her career by totaling 15. Between the Ladyjacks' two setters, six of the team's 46 kills were produced.
• Freshman libero Sabrina Monaco was the third member of SFA's club with double-digit digs. She racked up 12 and was part of a Ladyjack back row that severely limited Central Arkansas' offensive efficiency.
• Although UCA's Samantha Anderson - the reigning Southland Conference Player of the Year - kept up with her blistering kills per set average by tying for Coleman with match-high honors in terminations (12), SFA's defensive scheme limited the effectiveness of her and the rest of the Sugar Bars. Anderson hit .226 while Kellen Dunn added 10 terminations on the strength of a .286 attack percentage for the Sugar Bears.
• Savanah Allen accumulated nine more kills for Central Arkansas while hitting .400 and totaling a trio of the Sugar Bears' eight block assists. In the back row, Emily Doss finished with a match-high 21 digs to lead the visitors' efforts.
QUOTABLES
Head coach Debbie Humphreys on SFA's fast start in the third set | "We wanted to go out and focus on the block early in the third and clearly we did because we got some big blocks right away and set the tone."
...on controlling the aggression and tempo on offense | "I'm pleased with so many things we did, but there were a few points in each set where we just make it a little harder on ourselves than we needed to. We want to play aggressive volleyball and that's how we're built. I love that we're willing to do that, but we have to be a little bit smarter about it as well and that's something that over the course of this next week we said we're going to focus on is maintaining that aggression but with a little more control and intelligence. I'd rather have us flying too high and have to rein that aggression in rather than try to get the aggression out of them so we'll live with some of those silly mistakes right now but we have to be cleaning that up as we move through the regular season."
Senior middle blocker Makenzee Hanna on the crowd in Shelton Gym | "The crowd in Shelton is just at another level. The four years I've played here I've never experienced this anywhere else we've gone. It helps us look forward to our home matches."
...on Saturday's game plan | "Coach Humphreys' words to us were, "attack, attack, attack." If we play our game, we would get them out of system so they wouldn't be able to run their offense. Against a team like that, who is a very high-powered offensive team, that is so important."
...on how to set up the Ladyjacks' front row defense | "We just said line up and take away space and they'll hit into us. Putting our block in the right spot was big and if we don't block the ball our floor defense will take care of it."
COMING UP NEXT
• Continue their home stand that runs through the remainder of the month, the Ladyjacks set their sights on a busy three-match week. The first test of the week comes Tuesday evening at 6:30 p.m. when SFA tangles with longtime Louisiana adversary Northwestern State. The match will be broadcast nationwide on ESPN+ with the Southland's foremost volleyball experts Greg Miller and Brittany Castledine on the call.
-SFA-
