Stephen F. Austin
7-1
Arkansas-Pine Bluff
0-10
Ladyjacks Hammer Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 3-0, at Arkansas State Invitational
9/13/2019 6:22:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Hollas and Williams hit over .500
JONESBORO, Ark. - Less than 24 hours after suffering its first loss of the 2019 campaign - a setback that put an end to its 30-match regular season winning streak - the SFA volleyball team wasted little time in starting a new one.
Hitting .354 as a team and limiting Arkansas-Pine Bluff to an attack percentage of -.010, the Ladyjacks breezed by the Golden Lions, 3-0, Friday afternoon at the Arkansas State Invitational.
SET ONE | SFA 25, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 4
• Showing little to no mercy, the Ladyjacks started the match with a service ace courtesy of Margaret Dean and never looked back. SFA piled up a trio of service aces through its 9-1 run to begin the match including a pair from freshman Ariana Pagan. Ann Hollas posted a pair of kills through that run as well.
• Another pair of aces - this time from Hollas - helped the Ladyjacks close out a one-sided frame with a 7-1 surge.
• The Ladyjacks hit at a .353 clip while holding Arkansas-Pine Bluff to an attack percentage of -.318.
SET TWO | SFA 25, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 14
• Coming out with intentions of evening things up at one set apiece, Arkansas-Pine Bluff posted a pair of service aces through its 3-1 run to begin the frame before SFA made sure the Golden Lions' plans for a comeback did not come to fruition.
• Sophomore Neena Perdue helped lead an 8-3 SFA run to put the Ladyjacks in front for good. The middle blocker came up with a solo block and a kill during that run while junior Shelby Sheets generated her first kill in an SFA uniform during the surge as well.
• That run put the Ladyjacks up 9-6 and ensured they would never trail again. Arkansas-Pine Bluff did manage to pull within one point on three occasions - including when an attack error by Corin Evans made the score 15-14 - but one final run by the Ladyjacks put the Golden Lions away.
• Xariah Williams slammed down two terminations while Hollas added an ace and a kill during SFA's 10-0 run to end the set.
• The Ladyjacks' offense peaked in the middle frame, hitting .625 (10 kills on 16 attempts) while holding the Golden Lions to a clip of .000 (five kills, five errors).
SET THREE | SFA 25, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 19
• Hoping to finish the Golden Lions as quickly as possible, SFA relied on kills from Evans, Hollas, Pagan and Perdue to power its 7-2 run to begin the final frame.
• SFA never trailed in the set and watched as a pair of freshmen made their way into the action for the first time. Payton Cerny pounded down her first collegiate kill off of an assist from Margaret Dean to make matters 18-11 while Dara Kane dished out her first collegiate assist, passing a ball to Williams who posted a kill that made matters 22-16.
KEY PERFORMERS/STATISTICS OF NOTE
• A balanced offense was the key to success for the Ladyjacks as nine different players posted kills in the one-sided affair. Evans and Williams tied for match-high honors in terms of kills by going for eight each.
• Williams hit a match-best .571 while Hollas also found herself with an attack percentage of .500. The senior turned in seven kills to go along with 11 assists, six blocks, six digs and a trio of SFA's seven service aces.
• Three-and-a-half of SFA's 11 total digs were accumulated by Perdue who also finished with four kills on six swings.
• Madelynn Miller concluded her day with a match-high 15 digs while Dean dished out a match-best 16 assists.
COMING UP NEXT
• In another all-Texas showdown, SFA will conclude its three-match run at the Arkansas State Invitational Saturday morning by tangling with rv Rice. The Ladyjacks and Owls will get going at 11:00 a.m.
-SFA-
