Stephen F. Austin
5-2
Louisiana-Monroe
2-5
Redmond Pounds Down 13 Kills as Ladyjacks Rock Warhawks in Three
9/4/2018 6:34:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
SFA takes care of Louisiana-Monroe in 2018 home debut
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - With the first six matches of its season in the rearview mirror, the SFA volleyball team knew it had gotten two hitters going on a few occasions through the early stages of 2018. At this point, head coach Debbie Humphreys and the Ladyjacks were in search of a third prong to their primary attack.
Tuesday night in Shelton Gym, senior Peyton Redmond provided the Ladyjacks with just the scoring punch they needed.
Redmond pounded down a match and season-best 13 kills, completed a double-double with 11 digs and the Ladyjacks continued their mastery over Louisiana-Monroe by besting the Warhawks, 3-0, in their 2018 home opener.
SET ONE | SFA 25, Louisiana-Monroe 21
• Ann Hollas and Danae Daron put in two of the Ladyjacks' three aces during SFA's 5-2 run to begin the match. Redmond added two of her match-high 13 terminations during that surge as well.
• Haley Coleman and Hollas each delivered a pair of kills midway through the set as part of a 6-3 SFA scoring spree that increased the Ladyjacks' lead to 20-14. That advantage was SFA's largest of the set, but the Warhawks would not go away quietly.
• Louisiana-Monroe took off on a 4-0 run culminating with a termination from Kate Blasingame to cut SFA's lead to 20-18, forcing a timeout from the Ladyjacks.
• That was as close as the Warhawks would get, though, as Redmond took over down the stretch to put the home squad ahead. The senior powered down four terminations during SFA's 5-3 run to conclude the frame with Daron adding the other.
• SFA had to place its shots well against a strong blocking scheme put up by the Warhawks. Louisiana-Monroe amassed five rejections in the opening set alone before SFA was able to solve their opponents' defense.
SET TWO | SFA 25, Louisiana-Monroe 12
• The only lead the Warhawks enjoyed in the middle frame came when SFA got out of system on the first point of the set and went down 1-0.
• Giving Louisiana-Monroe a taste of its own medicine from the opening set, the Ladyjacks were able to establish their block to give the Warhawks fits.
• Coleman and Daron teamed up for a rejections before Makenzee Hanna and Lauren Wright followed suit during the Ladyjacks' 5-1 run to open up a 5-2 advantage.
• Louisiana-Monroe never got closer than two points away for the remainder of the set and SFA turned in a five-block defensive attack of its own to severely limit the visitors' scoring chances.
• SFA used runs of 4-1, 4-1 and 5-1 throughout the rest of the frame and eased to a 13-point triumph.
• Thanks to the Ladyjacks' front row defense, the Warhawks generated only seven kills against 12 errors to finish with an attack percentage of -.135 in the frame. SFA, meanwhile, hit .267 and needed just 10 kills to dispatch Louisiana-Monroe.
SET THREE | SFA 25, Louisiana-Monroe 20
• With their backs against the wall in the final frame, the Warhawks captured eight of the first 13 points to open up an 8-5 advantage before SFA was able to turn things around.
• Using a 9-3 run featuring three unforced Louisiana-Monroe errors and a pair of terminations by junior Xariah Williams, the Ladyjacks went up by a 14-11 tally and never trailed again.
• Though the Warhawks responded by tying the set at 14 and 15 points, SFA scored 10 of the final 15 points of the match to complete the sweep. Redmond blasted down another three kills during that 15-5 run to end the match while Hollas added a pair of her own.
KEY PERFORMERS/STATS OF NOTE
• While Redmond racked up the most kills on the night, Daron was no slouch on either offense or defense. The Crosby, Texas, product turned in seven kills on a team-best .357 attack
percentage but it was at the front of the net where Daron did the most damage. Of the 20 block assists SFA came up with on the night, Daron was responsible for a match-high seven of them.
• Making the first start of her collegiate career, redshirt freshman Lauren Wright finished with three kills and a trio of block assists. Seniors Haley Coleman and Makenzee Hanna also added three block assists each and combined for six of SFA's 38 kills.
• Dishing out the offense for SFA were McKenzie Brewer and Ann Hollas who finished with 15 and 14 assists respectively. The latter finished off her third double-double of the season by scooping up 11 digs, making her one of four Ladyjacks who registered double-digit digs.
• The Warhawks' Kate Blasingame was responsible for 12 of the team's 29 terminations, but no other Louisiana-Monroe player exceeded four. Blasingame finished off a double-double effort with 11 digs while Tara Jenkins also turned in a double-double with 15 assists and and 11 digs.
• SFA has now won six in a row over Louisiana-Monroe and improved to 41-3 all-time against the Warhawks which included a 22-1 mark in Nacogdoches.
• Sabrina Monaco followed up her Ellis Rowland Memorial Invitational All-Tournament team nod from last weekend in New York by going for a match-high 13 digs in SFA's win.
HEAD COACH DEBBIE HUMPHREYS
On Peyton Redmond's strong night | "She had a great offensive night. She played very well all the way around. We always count on her for passing and defense but she's really stepped up her serve, her offensive game and she did exactly what we needed. Xariah [Williams] came in and gave us some good time, Lauren [Wright] in her first start was able to get a little something going, so it was nice to see everyone come in and do well."
On the difference in the match | "I thought the key for us was that we were able to keep them out of a middle attack. They have two middles they like to get the ball to and their kids are very difficult to stop. I thought our service pressure was the difference in the match that kept them a little more out of system and they were unable to get the ball to their middles as much as they wanted to."
On SFA's depth | We have to be able to have every single person ready to play at a high level throughout the season to get this thing done. Hopefully the players are starting to realize that. If you're not in the match, don't let yourself get frustrated, just keep busting it in practice every day and know that those opportunities are going to come and we're going to need every player ready to go."
COMING UP NEXT
• Continuing their six-match homestand, the Ladyajcks welcome Grambling State, St. John's, Stetson and Tennessee State to Shelton Gym this Friday and Saturday for The Fredonia Hotel/Holiday Inn Express SFA Invitational. The action begins at 11:00 a.m. Friday morning but the Ladyjacks' first match isn't until 1:30 p.m. that afternoon. In that tilt, SFA tangles with Tennessee State.
-SFA-
