Stephen F. Austin
17-2, 4-0Southland
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
3-14, 2-2Southland
Efficient Ladyjacks Hammer Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 3-0 as Win Streak Reaches 14
9/29/2018 2:47:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Daron hits .667 with a match-high 12 kills to lead SFA
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Displaying a ruthless form of efficiency, the SFA volleyball team needed only 67 minutes to sew up its nation-leading 14th consecutive win as the Ladyjacks used a match-high 12 terminations from Danae Daron as well as an 11-2 edge in blocks to dismantle Texas A&M-Corpus Christ in three sets Saturday afternoon inside Shelton Gym.
In a match that featured the two teams who have won each of the last four Southland Conference regular season titles, it was the Ladyjacks who came out as the aggressors and made sure the Islanders never had a chance. SFA hit .300 and used its strong front-row defense to hold Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's team attack down to the tune of a .157 hitting percentage. Through the first two weeks of the Southland Conference season, SFA and Abilene Christian are the only two programs in the 13-team league who have not dropped a conference match.
SET ONE | SFA 25, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 20
• After seeing its middle blockers neutralized by Northwestern State and Houston Baptist earlier in the week, SFA was finally unable to unleash the potent offense of its front-and-center players to take control early.
• Terminations from Haley Coleman, Makenzee Hanna and Anyia Williams helped the Ladyjacks counter a 3-1 run by the Islanders to start the match. Those three kills ensured the hosts would never again trail in the frame.
• As a matter of fact, Anyia Williams and Daron combined eight of the Ladyjacks' 14 terminations in the opening set and it was the latter who helped SFA gain a little bit of separation from the Islanders in the middle of the frame.
• Daron drove down two kills and teamed with Makenzee Hanna for a block during a 4-1 SFA run that pushes the Ladyjacks' edge to 14-10.
• The Islanders responded just a few points later with a 3-0 run consisting of terminations by Rachel Young and Chloe Simon as well as a service ace from Jenna Krenek to knot matters at 16-16. From there, however, SFA reestablished its front row defense and took the wind out of the Islanders' sails.
• Blocks from Ann Hollas and Anyia Williams, Hollas and Daron and a solo stuff by Peyton Redmond were what SFA greeted the Islanders with out of the Ladyjacks' timeout. That 3-0 run fazed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Daron helped SFA finish their Southland Conference foes off down the stretch by adding two more terminations during SFA's 5-1 run to end the set.
SET TWO | SFA 25, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 18
• Much like what transpired in the first frame, the Islanders employed a sizable surge in the middle of the set to cut into the Ladyjacks' lead before SFA regained control with a big run to finish the set.
• Daron got SFA off to a good start by turning in a kill and the first of her two service aces to hand the Ladyjacks an early 5-3 lead.
• Another service ace - this one off the hand of Coleman - extended SFA's lead to 17-11 before 17-11 before the Islanders made their run.
• Two SFA attack errors coupled with terminations from three different Islanders comprised a 5-0 run by the visitors that cut the Ladyjacks' lead down to 17-16 before SFA regrouped in a big way.
• Senior McKenzie Brewer kick-started a match-clinching 8-2 run by SFA with a sneaky dump kill while Daron added two more terminations and a block assist during that surge to put the Ladyjacks up by two sets.
• In the middle frame, SFA hit .346 while holding the Islanders to a clip of .200.
SET THREE | SFA 25, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 16
• Three consecutive unforced attack errors by the Islanders handed SFA and early 3-0 lead before the visitors reeled off five of the next six points to go up 5-4.
• That lead, however, was the only one Texas A&M-Corpus Christi would enjoy in the set. Daron put SFA ahead with a kill followed up with her second ace which made sure the Ladyjacks never trailed again.
• Terminations from Hollas and Xariah Williams bookended a 4-1 SFA run that pushed the Ladyjacks' lead to 11-8. The Islanders' final push came in the form of a 3-1 run featuring two kills from Julia Carter and another from Sam Dumity that cut SFA's advantage to 16-14.
• After that, Coleman demoralized the Islanders with her service game and helped the hosts cruise to the finish line. Through SFA's 9-2 run to end the match, Coleman racked up three consecutive service aces while Daron, Anyia Williams and Xariah Williams punched down the Ladyjacks' four kills through the run.
• In the frame, SFA accumulated four of its 11 blocks and limited the Islanders to a hitting percentage of only .157.
KEY PERFORMERS/STATISTICS OF NOTE
• A terror from the service line, Coleman racked up a match and career-high five service aces. Daron added two more to keep the pressure on the Islanders all afternoon.
• In addition to her two winners from the service line, Daron added six block assists but it was Hollas who showcased her front-row power in a big way. The junior established a new career high with seven block assists while also coming up with two kills, five digs and 14 of SFA's 32 assists.
• Brewer inched ever closer to the 1,000-assist mark for her career by posting team-high honors with 15 helpers in the three-set win.
• Carter finished with 11 terminations and hit .421 to lead the way for the visitors but the Islanders' lack of front-row defense came back to bite them. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi finished with just two total blocks, one of which came from setter Madison Green who dished out 30 assists to go along with five kills and five digs.
• No SFA player reached double-digits in digs as Coleman finished with a team-best nine. Kaylee Payne scooped up a match-high 16 for the Islanders in their second-straight Southland Conference setback.
• SFA's winning streak got extended to a nation-leading 14 matches with the win. All 14 of those wins have come in the month of September where SFA has accumulated an impressive 14-1 record.
• The Ladyjacks winning streak inside Shelton Gym was extended to 11 with Saturday afternoon's win. That streak started last season with a 3-0 victory over Lamar that sewed up SFA's outright 2017 Southland Conference regular season title.
QUOTABLE
SFA head coach Debbie Humphreys on getting the middle blockers more involved | "Texas A&M-Corpus Christi is young team and they have some very potent pieces. They also have a system in place that can be difficult to defend and we knew we had to come out and be the ones in attack mode. We were able to do that and accomplish that particular goal. I thought we put good service pressure on them and I also thought we were able to get everybody involved offensively. We worked yesterday on getting our middles to score no matter how many blockers they have on them and the bottom line is we have to be able to get them the ball. We don't want to go away from them even if another team's trying to shut them down. I was really pleased with how our team came out and responded to that."
…on the way the team responded after a difficult Thursday night match against HBU | "We were just kind of, "business as usual." This week has been a lot of volleyball, but it's a lot for everyone. The intensity of all of the matches that we've had this week can wear on you so I was pleased with how we did respond this afternoon. Fortunately some of their service errors helped us out in some key times. I'd like to clean up our serve/receive game a little more but overall I thought we played a good match."
…on how SFA's middle blockers were able to have so much success | "Their offense is as fast as it gets, but we just used our service pressure to slow it down a little bit. Our blockers were very in tune with where their hitters were today. We played a very focused match and if we can learn do to that - just focus in - then we are going to be just fine."
…on playing 12 of the remaining Southland Conference matches away from Nacogdoches | "It's time to take our show on the road. People will be still be in the stands yelling and screaming, just not quite as many of them will be yelling and screaming for us. It's good to have fans in the stands no matter where you are and we are excited about the opportunities to go on the road and show the conference what SFA volleyball looks like. For us it's about going out and playing a really good ball. We've won some really high-level roach matches this year so I have no doubt that we'll be ready on game day no matter what the venue."
Junior setter Ann Hollas on finishing up the month of September with a 14-match winning streak | "We have just kept improving through the month and each time we just focused on finishing one match at a time no matter who the opponent was. We've done really well preparing match-to-match."
…on her career-high seven block assists | "Playing in the front row really gets me going - especially when I'm blocking. If my hitting isn't going as great as I'd like, we have plenty of other options that are fantastic so I just do what I can at the front of the net."
COMING UP NEXT
• Following a four-match home stand, the Ladyjacks will be back in Shelton Gym just four more times in the months of October and November. With the vast majority of their home contests now in their rearview mirror, the Ladyjacks take their show on the road and the first stop is in Hammond, La., Thursday night for a 7:00 p.m. Southland Conference skirmish with Southeastern Louisiana.
-SFA-
