Fueled by MVP Flynn and All-Tournament Team Selection Ortiz, Ladyjacks defeat Southern Mississippi and Finish SFA Tournament Undefeated

Saturday, September 2

Nacogdoches, TX

1:30 p.m.

Stephen F. Austin

5-1,0-0WAC

University of Southern Mississippi

1-5,0-0Sun Belt

Southern Miss.

SFA

Fueled by MVP Flynn and All-Tournament Team Selection Ortiz, Ladyjacks defeat Southern Mississippi and Finish SFA Tournament Undefeated

9/2/2023 5:56:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Amanda Paver, SFA Assistant Director for Strategic Communications

NACOGDOCHES, Texas- Stephen F. Austin defeated Southern Mississippi 3-2 in their finale of the SFA tournament.

The first set saw points being exchanged in a back-and-forth manner as neither team held a lead above two points through the first 12 points. After the Golden Eagles scored a point to tie the score at six, the 'Jacks caught fire and won six of the next eight points to take a 14-8 lead thanks to a pair of kills from Ariana Pagan. The Golden Eagles responded almost immediately by winning the next four points closing the gap to two, 14-12. Points were hard to come by for both teams as neither team scored more than three consecutive points, but SFA never looked back after scoring three straight to take an 18-13 lead to secure a 25-19 set victory. The second set started off strong for the 'Jacks as they won seven of the first eight points to take a 7-1 lead thanks to kills from Ielan Bradley, Alleah Dallas, and Camryn Hill. However, the Golden Eagles would find their footing and win 14 of the next 21 points to hold a slim 15-14 lead. Both teams exchanged points the rest of the second set until the Golden Eagles found their groove and won the final four points of the set to claim a 25-22 set win. The third set provided a different energy as both teams were unable to hold a lead greater than three points. However, SFA went on a 5-0 run to hold a 17-12 lead that they never relinquished on route to a 25-21 win in the third set. With their backs to the wall in the fourth set, the Golden Eagles found themselves trailing 21-14 deep into the fourth set. Unwilling to go down without a fight the Golden Eagles rattled off nine straight points fueled by three straight kills from Aysu Dalogullari to take a commanding 23-21 lead. The Golden Eagles would win two of the next three points and claim a win in set four, 25-22. A decisive fifth set was needed to determine the outcome of this one. The 'Jacks trailing 3-2 early in the fifth set were able to rattle off four straight points thanks to two kills from Bradley. However, the next five points would belong to USM and they held an 8-6 lead which they would hold for the next few points as they held a slim 12-9 lead. However, Bradley came up huge for SFA once again as her two kills helped fuel a 4-0 SFA run to give the 'Jacks a 13-12 lead. Wanting to keep their undefeated record in the SFA tournament intact, Bradley helped close out the Golden Eagles by recording two kills in the final three points to push the Ladyjacks to a 15-13 win and secure an undefeated record in the SFA tournament.

Overall, SFA led USM in points (85-79), kills (63-59), aces (9-8), blocks (13-12), assists (58-54), and digs (93-91). Bradley and Hill led the Ladyjacks with 15 kills apiece while Alleah Dallas pitched in 12 kills of her own and led the team in blocks with six. Jayden Flynn, the MVP of the tournament, recorded her second double-double of the season for SFA as she had a whopping 21 digs (a new career high) and dished out 31 assists. Haley Hoang led the team in both digs (22) and aces (3), while Pagan stuffed the stat sheet for the 'Jacks as she had two aces, four blocks, and 17 digs against USM.

After the match, the full All-Tournament Team was announced. Jayden Flynn was named the tournament MVP, while Izabella Ortiz also earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team.

SFA All-Tournament Team:

MVP- Jayden Flynn- SFA
Izabella Ortiz- SFA
Tommi Stockham- Cal Poly
Annabelle Thalken- Cal Poly
Mia Wesley- Southern Miss
Aysu Dalogullari- Southern Miss
Kendall Battistella- Nicholls

The Ladyjacks will carry their four-game win streak into Denton when they get set to square off against the University of North Texas on Wednesday, September 6^th at 6:00 p.m.