Stephen F. Austin
9-1
rv Rice
9-1
SFA Scores Five-Set Triumph over Previously Undefeated rv Rice
9/14/2019 2:42:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Ladyjacks see three players finish with double-doubles
JONESBORO, Ark. - So far through its non-conference slate in 2019, the SFA volleyball team has taken down a Big 12 for, bested a Big Ten opponent and has now made the most of its only opportunity thus far to make a statement against a team receiving votes in the AVCA Division I Coaches Poll.
Staring down a match-point try by rv Rice, the Ladyjacks turned the tables on their in-state rivals and ended the fifth and final set on a 3-0 run to claim a thrilling 3-2 triumph over the Owls Saturday afternoon at the First National Bank Arena.
In order to secure the win - and to hand Rice its first loss of the 2019 season - the Ladyjacks had to bounce back from a loss in the opening set as well as a trio of set point opportunities by the Owls in the second that threatened to put SFA in an 0-2 hole.
SET ONE | rv Rice 25, SFA 18
• A rare attack error by the Owls gave SFA a 1-0 lead but that was the only advantage the Ladyjacks held in the opening frame.
• Using some impressive firepower, Rice received terminations from three different players as well as a solo block by Grace Morgan during a 5-1 run to take the lead for good.
• The Owls' lead ballooned to 15-5 thanks in part to four unforced SFA attack errors as well as a trio of kills off the mitts of Anota Adekunle.
• At last SFA was able to string together some points due to the service game of Margaret Dean. The junior served up consecutive aces through a 4-1 Ladyjack run that trimmed the Owls' edge to 17-10.
• Try as they might, however, the Ladyjacks were simply unable to overcome the Owls' strong start to the frame. A 5-2 run featuring a trio of kills from Taya Mitchell made things interesting and pulled SFA within 24-18, but out of a timeout the Owls' Kassidy Muse slammed down the set-ending kill.
• The Owls came out with guns blazing, hitting .516 in the first frame compared to the Ladyjacks' clip of .143.
SET TWO | SFA 26, rv Rice 24
• Able to fortify their defense between sets one and two, SFA greatly limited the effectiveness of the Owls' offense in the second set.
• Ahead 20-18 following a termination by Mitchell, the Ladyjacks found themselves with their backs against the wall after Rice went on a 6-1 run powered by two kills apiece from Lennon and Muse to move ahead 24-21.
• Instead of backing down, SFA ramped up its own offensive intensity to tie things up at one set apiece. Danae Daron and Corin Evans pounded down consecutive kills before three straight attack errors by the Owls helped the Ladyjacks pull out the 26-24 win.
• After hitting just .143 in the first, SFA increased its offensive accuracy and finished with an attack percentage of .216 in the second. Shoring up its defense by a considerable margin, SFA held Rice to an attack percentage of only .130
SET THREE | SFA 25, rv Rice 22
• Rice was able to hold SFA at arms length through the early stages of the frame before the Ladyjacks went on a 7-3 run during the midway point to take control.
• Facing a 12-11 disadvantage, SFA received three terminations from Evans as well as one each from Sheretta Hill and Hollas to move ahead 17-14.
• An attack error by the Owls' star Nicole Lennon pushes SFA's advantage to 20-16 - its largest of the set.
• The Owls did manage to close within two points, 22-20, but Daron, Hill and Hollas each came up with kills for SFA down the stretch to finish off the Owls and go up 2-1.
SET FOUR | rv Rice 25, SFA 17
• Not wanting to suffer their first loss of the season, the Owls took it to SFA early in the fourth and never loosened their grip on the lead.
• Two SFA attack errors, a pair of terminations from Adekunle and one more from Lennon helped power a 7-5 Rice run to start the frame.
• SFA never retook the lead and an 8-2 Rice run midway through the frame increased the Owls' lead to 20-13.
• A service ace off the hand of Neena Perdue shrank Rice's lead to 21-17, but three different Owls generated kills during their 4-0 run to end the set and push SFA into its second five-set affair of the year.
SET FIVE | SFA 16, rv Rice 14
• Kills from Evans and Hill coupled with a pair of errant attacks by Lennon pushed the Ladyjacks ahead 4-2 early in the frame.
• SFA increased its lead to three points, 8-5, after Evans pounded down another kill before the teams swapped benches.
• Using a 5-2 run which included two more Lennon terminations, Rice knotted matters at 10 before Hill hammered home her 11th and final kill of the match to begin at 3-0 SFA run. Junior Bailey Mulder came up with a big-time service ace to cap that surge and put the Ladyjacks ahead 13-10.
• Rice, however, had one final push left in in. Lennon kick-started a 4-0 run with two kills and back-to-back SFA attack errors made matters 14-13 in favor of the Owls.
• Just as they had done in the second, however, SFA staved off set point. Back-to-back errors by the Owls put SFA up 15-14 before Hollas found the back corner on an attack attempt to finish off Rice.
KEY PERFORMERS/STATISTICS OF NOTE
• Hollas finished just one dig shy of a triple-double, finishing with a team-high 12 kills to go along with 21 assists and nine digs.
• Evans added a 10-kill, 16-dig double-double while Dean racked up a team-high 22 assists as well as 13 digs for a double-double.
• Xariah Williams proved to be one of the key parts of SFA's win as the senior added 19 digs as well as eight terminations.
• Hill hit a team-best .370 and finished with 11 kills, three digs and a trio of blocks.
• Leading the way for SFA's outstanding floor defense was Madylenn Miller who finished with a season-high 29 digs.
• SFA withstood an outstanding performance from Lennon who finished with 32 kills and 22 digs in the Owls' first loss of the season.
• After hitting .516 in the opening frame, Rice never saw its attack go above .262 in any of the four remaining sets.
• The win was SFA's first over a team receiving votes in the AVCA Coaches Poll since defeating rv Wichita State 3-1 on Friday, Sept. 14, in Denton, Texas.
COMING UP NET
• Next week the Ladyjacks return to the Lone Star State where they will be one of four teams competing at the UT-Arlington Maverick Invitational. SFA starts its three-match run in Arlington, Texas, Friday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. by tangling with SWAC foe Prairie View A&M.
HEAR IT FROM HEAD COACH DEBBIE HUMPHREYS
On SFA's rejuvenated defensive effort in set two | "We changed personnel a little big and got a bigger block on the right hand side to try and slow down their left side attack. We were able to continue to pass the ball at a really high level and more than anything I feel as though we settled into the flow of the match and figured out what we needed to do to defensively. Our passing and serving was there, it was just a matter of getting our defense to catch up to those two elements."
On trying to stop Rice's Nicole Lennon and Anota Adekunle | "Those two girls were going to hit a lot of balls and we knew that was Rice's game plan coming in. That team has firepower coming at you from everywhere, but those were their favorite targets. We just had to try to slow down and contain Lennon as much as possible. With their middle, the best defense we had was our offense. We had to keep pressure on them so that couldn't run the middle as effectively as they wanted to."
On the play of Sheretta Hill | "Sheretta did a great job this afternoon. She came off the bench and got some big blocks on defense as well as some high-quality touches on offense. We wound up feeding her more balls than we usually do and she was able to take advantage of those opportunities."
On recovering from Thursday's night's loss | "All the credit goes to Arkansas State in our first match this week. We were not ourselves defensively. It seemed like we couldn't do anything right defensively whether that was digging balls, setting up our block or just being in system. The thing we hang our hats on wasn't there. Today we looked like ourselves on defense and we needed every bit of that. We didn't win the offensive battle against Rice, but we did win the serving game and the passing game and when you couple that with our defense that's usually the key to success."
On SFA's service game and the insertion of Neena Perdue and Bailey Mulder into the match | "Our depth and continued development of different players is going to be so crucial for us moving forward. Neena did a fantastic job and took advantage of the opportunities we gave her. Bailey's a tremendous server and a great defender and we were about to take advantage of that in today's match. Trying to get those people into matches at the right time where they can be the most effective is difficult but we did that today."
On continued improvement | "We've got to continue to fine-tune the offense. It's our intention to start taking even more big swings. We definitely took steps forward in that area today but it still has to get better. Our defense has to be a consistent thing that we can rely on, too. It cost us a match when it didn't show up and in the future it has to be steady. If we can make that commitment to our defense, we will be able to turn that into more offense.
-SFA-
