Stephen F. Austin
15-1
Lamar
5-8
Evans' Double-Double, Strong Service Attack Lead rv SFA to 3-0 Win at Lamar
10/3/2019 8:52:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Ladyjacks rack up season-high 10 service aces, add 13 blocks in fifth-consecutive Southland regular season sweep
BEAUMONT, Texas - When Thursday night began, four Southland Conference volleyball teams had yet to suffer a setback in league action. That number was cut down to two by the time the night game to an end, but thanks to one of its best all-around matches of the year, rv SFA made sure it was one of those two.
Senior Corin Evans produced her sixth double-double of the season by finishing with a match-high 14 kills and 10 digs, the Ladyjacks' front-row defense took its show on the road and racked up 13 blocks and rv SFA generated a season-high 10 service aces to stay perfect in Southland Conference action with a 3-0 victory over Lamar Thursday night at McDonald Gym.
SET ONE | rv SFA 25, Lamar 15
• SFA's impressive combination of powerful offense and near-impenetrable defense was on full display during the opening set in McDonald Gym.
• The Ladyjacks never trailed in the set and started things with a big-time offensive barrage that featured terminations from Margaret Dean, Evans, Ann Hollas and Taya Mitchell. Those kills helped SFA jump out to a quick 8-3 lead.
• Lamar managed to pull within two points, 8-6, with a 3-0 surge of its own but the Ladyjacks responded by capturing eight of the next nine points to make matters 16-7. Hollas and Maddie Miller came up with service aces during that surge while Danae Daron teamed with Ariana Pagan twice and Xariah Williams once to account for SFA's three rejections during the visitors' run.
• Mitchell and Williams teamed up for SFA's fifth and final block of the set while Evans added another trio of terminations as the Ladyjacks outscored the Cardinals 9-7 through the remainder of the frame to go up one set to none.
• Six of SFA's 13 terminations in the first frame came off the mitts of Evans while the Ladyjacks' five blocks limited the Cardinals to an attack percentage of only .026. SFA, meanwhile, attacked at a clip of .333 in order to ease to the win.
SET TWO | rv SFA 25, Lamar 22
• It looked like the Cardinals wouldn't stand a chance against the Ladyjacks as SFA came out like gangbusters in the middle frame. Pagan put in two service aces and added a kill while Evans contributed two more terminations as SFA began the frame on a 10-1 run.
• Though the Ladyjacks' lead shrank to 16-8, they never really stared danger in the face until Lamar used two terminations from Abigale Nash during a 4-0 run that cut SFA's lead to 16-12. Hollas righted the Ladyjacks' ship, however, by slamming home a trio of terminations during a 4-1 spurt that pushed SFA's lead to 20-12.
• Following a Danae Daron termination that increased the Ladyjacks' lead to 23-15, SFA had to weather one final sizable surge by the Cardinals. Lamar went on a 7-1 run that cut the Ladyjacks' lead to 24-22, but Evans' 12th kill of the night finally ended the set.
• The Cardinals' offense did increase in efficiency, hitting .222 in the set, but SFA's sizable surge in the infancy of the frame helped the Ladyjacks hang on to go ahead 2-0.
SET THREE | rv SFA 25, Lamar 20
• Much like what occurred in last Saturday's Southland Conference showdown, the Ladyjacks had to mount a rally in the third and final set to get the job done.
• Bre'Ala Box connected for a trio of terminations during Lamar's 5-2 run to start the match before SFA started stringing together points.
• The tail end of a 9-5 run that put SFA ahead for the first time came in the form of back-to-back points from Dean. The junior dumped in a kill to the back corner before an ace from the Bedford, Texas, native put SFA ahead 11-10.
• Once the Ladyjacks had the lead, they didn't fall behind again. Pagan helped SFA break an 11-11 deadlock by contributing a kill and an ace during a 3-0 run. A kill from Hollas as well as another ace off of Miller's hand represented half of SFA's points through a 4-0 scoring spree which pushed the visitors' edge to 18-13.
• Again the Cardinals didn't go down without a fight. McKenzie Bennett served up a pair of aces through a 4-0 Lamar run which sliced SFA's lead down to 20-18. That was as close as Lamar would get, however, as Daron crushed a pair of kills through SFA's 5-2 run to end the match.
• SFA ended the match with its 13th block of the night and held Lamar to a .128 attack percentage in the set.
KEY PERFORMERS/STATISTICS OF NOTE
• Evans led the way on offense for SFA, finishing with a match-high 14 terminations and completing her sixth double-double of the year with 10 digs.
• Pagan produced a team-high 15 digs while Miller added 14 in the back row.
• Front row defensive standout Mitchell finished with seven blocks in the victory while Hollas added six to go along with eight kills, 15 assists, three digs and a service ace.
• Not only did its offense and defense play a strong role in its latest win, SFA's service game did so as well. Pagan piled up four of the Ladyjacks' season-high 10 service aces while Miller finished with three.
• Twenty-two of the Cardinals' 36 kills came from Nash (team-high 12) and Kayla Neumann (10). Bennett wrapped up her night with three of the Cardinals' six service aces as Lamar lost its fifth in a row.
• The win was SFA's eighth in a row and was also the Ladyjacks' sixth-consecutive sweep. SFA has won 19-straight sets which is tied with top-ranked Baylor for the nation's longest active streak of consecutive sets won.
COMING UP NEXT
• For the first time this season, the Ladyjacks head to Louisiana. Saturday morning rv SFA will try to keep their perfect Southland Conference record intact when they challenge McNeese inside the H&HP Complex at 11:30 a.m.
-SFA-
