Thursday, September 5
El Paso, TX
5:00 p.m.
Stephen F. Austin
5-0,0-0Southland
3
vs
0
Air Force
1-2,0-0Mountain West
1
2
3
F
SFA
25
25
25
3
Air Force
21
22
15
0
Ladyjacks Soar Past Falcons to Record Fourth Sweep in First Five Games
9/5/2024 8:00:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
EL PASO, Texas- The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks Volleyball Team (5-0) continues to power through their opponents to begin the season as they opened the Borderlands Invitational in dominating fashion by sweeping the Air Force Falcons (1-2) 3-0 in consecutive sets.
The opening set between Air Force and SFA saw the Ladyjacks jump out to an early 4-2 lead thanks to Katherine Holtman who contributed both a block and a kill in the early going for SFA. The early part of the set would be a contested back-and-forth affair as the two schools traded points consistently with both schools tied at nine early in the first set. However, the Ladyjacks would begin to find their groove offensively as they would go on a 3-0 scoring run thanks to kills from Katherine Holtman and Jayden Flynn, before Natalie Guerrero would cap the run with a service ace to give SFA a 12-9 lead. The Falcons would not back down easily as they promptly responded with a 5-2 scoring run of their own to keep the score tied at 14 apiece. Following a 4-1 scoring run by SFA that put them ahead 18-15, the two schools would exchange points evenly the rest of the set with SFA maintaining a minimum two point lead. Leading 23-21 late in the first set, Camryn Hill would record the final two points for SFA and deny the Falcons the chance to claim a comeback win as she would flash her versatility by recording a kill on offense, before securing the set win for SFA with a block to give the 'Jacks a 25-21 opening set win.
The second set saw SFA start in a similar manner as the first set as they would jump out to a 5-2 opening lead over Air Force. The Falcons trimmed the lead down to 6-4, however, SFA would extend their lead on the Falcons as they would explode for a 5-1 scoring run to stake themselves to an early 11-5 lead. However, the Falcons would once again have an answer to the SFA offense as they would embark on a 5-1 scoring run of their own to trim the SFA lead down to 12-10 midway through the second set. The two schools would furiously exchange points the remainder of the set that saw the score tie on three different occasions, however, SF would still hold a slim 21-19 lead late in the second set. Holding a slim 23-21 lead, the 'Jacks would close out the Falcons with a mini 2-1 scoring run that was finished off by a kill from Izabella Ortiz to ice the 25-22 second set win for SFA.
The Falcons flipped the script on the third set as they would fly out to an early 4-1 lead, which they maintained early into the set as they held an 8-4 lead over SFA. However, SFA wouldn't stay down for long as they would turn a 9-5 deficit into a 10-9 lead thanks to a 5-0 scoring run highlighted by a pair of kills from Camryn Hill. Following Air Force tying the game at 10, SFA would once again explode for another 5-0 scoring run to hold a 15-10 lead over Air Force over midway through the third set. The Ladyjacks would keep their foot on the gas the remainder of the set as they would extend their lead to 19-12, and held a 20-15 lead late in the third set. SFA would end the set on their third 5-0 scoring run of the set highlighted by another pair of kills from Camryn Hill and punctuated with a service ace from Caroline Kahle to lock down the 3-0 sweep for SFA and their fifth win of the 2024 season.
Top Players of the Match:
The Ladyjacks get set for day two of the Borderlands Invitational tomorrow, September 6th when they faceoff with Southland Conference opponent Southeastern Louisiana. Start time for tomorrow's match is set for 4:00 p.m. CST. You can follow all the action with live stats provided on the SFA Athletics Website, as well as follow along on the SFA Volleyball social media accounts for all the game updates.
The opening set between Air Force and SFA saw the Ladyjacks jump out to an early 4-2 lead thanks to Katherine Holtman who contributed both a block and a kill in the early going for SFA. The early part of the set would be a contested back-and-forth affair as the two schools traded points consistently with both schools tied at nine early in the first set. However, the Ladyjacks would begin to find their groove offensively as they would go on a 3-0 scoring run thanks to kills from Katherine Holtman and Jayden Flynn, before Natalie Guerrero would cap the run with a service ace to give SFA a 12-9 lead. The Falcons would not back down easily as they promptly responded with a 5-2 scoring run of their own to keep the score tied at 14 apiece. Following a 4-1 scoring run by SFA that put them ahead 18-15, the two schools would exchange points evenly the rest of the set with SFA maintaining a minimum two point lead. Leading 23-21 late in the first set, Camryn Hill would record the final two points for SFA and deny the Falcons the chance to claim a comeback win as she would flash her versatility by recording a kill on offense, before securing the set win for SFA with a block to give the 'Jacks a 25-21 opening set win.
The second set saw SFA start in a similar manner as the first set as they would jump out to a 5-2 opening lead over Air Force. The Falcons trimmed the lead down to 6-4, however, SFA would extend their lead on the Falcons as they would explode for a 5-1 scoring run to stake themselves to an early 11-5 lead. However, the Falcons would once again have an answer to the SFA offense as they would embark on a 5-1 scoring run of their own to trim the SFA lead down to 12-10 midway through the second set. The two schools would furiously exchange points the remainder of the set that saw the score tie on three different occasions, however, SF would still hold a slim 21-19 lead late in the second set. Holding a slim 23-21 lead, the 'Jacks would close out the Falcons with a mini 2-1 scoring run that was finished off by a kill from Izabella Ortiz to ice the 25-22 second set win for SFA.
The Falcons flipped the script on the third set as they would fly out to an early 4-1 lead, which they maintained early into the set as they held an 8-4 lead over SFA. However, SFA wouldn't stay down for long as they would turn a 9-5 deficit into a 10-9 lead thanks to a 5-0 scoring run highlighted by a pair of kills from Camryn Hill. Following Air Force tying the game at 10, SFA would once again explode for another 5-0 scoring run to hold a 15-10 lead over Air Force over midway through the third set. The Ladyjacks would keep their foot on the gas the remainder of the set as they would extend their lead to 19-12, and held a 20-15 lead late in the third set. SFA would end the set on their third 5-0 scoring run of the set highlighted by another pair of kills from Camryn Hill and punctuated with a service ace from Caroline Kahle to lock down the 3-0 sweep for SFA and their fifth win of the 2024 season.
Top Players of the Match:
- Camryn Hill: 14 kills (season-high, and led team), eight digs, 15.5 points (season-high, and led team)
- Izabella Ortiz: Six kills, four blocks, two digs, nine points
- Sophia Wilson: 18 assists (career/season-high, led team), two kills, two digs
- Jayden Flynn: 17 assists, two kills, two digs
- Natalie Guerrero: 10 digs (led team), three assists, one service ace
- Molly Cravens: Four kills, two digs, five blocks (led team)
The Ladyjacks get set for day two of the Borderlands Invitational tomorrow, September 6th when they faceoff with Southland Conference opponent Southeastern Louisiana. Start time for tomorrow's match is set for 4:00 p.m. CST. You can follow all the action with live stats provided on the SFA Athletics Website, as well as follow along on the SFA Volleyball social media accounts for all the game updates.
Team Stats
SFA
USAFA
Kills
41
37
Errors
11
19
Attempts
91
94
Hitting %
.330
.191
Points
53.0
42.0
Assists
38
37
Aces
3
3
Blocks
9
2
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
14
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
6
Aces
1
Blocks
4
Kills
5
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
5
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's Volleyball
DS
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's VolleyballMB
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's VolleyballMB
/ Women's Volleyball
S
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