RECAP: Ladyjacks Suffer First Conference Loss in Five to Cardinals

Thursday, October 8

Nacogdoches, TX

6:00 PM

Stephen F. Austin

10-8,4-1Southland

UIW

6-8,4-1Southland

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
UIW	23	21	25	25	15	3
SFA	25	25	22	22	10	2

Game Notes (PDF)

RECAP: Ladyjacks Suffer First Conference Loss in Five to Cardinals

10/8/2026 9:44:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Amanda Paver, Assistant Director of Communications

NACOGDOCHES, Texas- Stephen F. Austin lost to UIW 3-2 on Thursday. SFA took the first two sets 25-23 and 25-21 before dropping the final three 22-25, 22-25, and 10-15.

SFA traded early points with the Cardinals and were tied 10-10 before the Cardinals scored five straight to move ahead 15-10. The Ladyjacks worked back within 17-15, and after the Cardinals led 20-17, SFA put together five straight points with kills from Molly Cravens and Avery Koonsen before a Caroline Kahle ace made it 22-20. The Cardinals tied the set at 22-22 and again at 23-23, but a block by Kyanna Creecy and Cravens gave SFA set point before a bad set by the Cardinals closed SFA's 25-23 win.

SFA opened the second set with four straight points, including a Jordan Henderson kill and a Kahle ace, and later led 13-9 after Madi Zorn's ace. The Cardinals answered with six straight points to move ahead 15-13, then pushed the margin to 20-16. SFA took the next eight points, with Avery Koonsen's kill starting the run, Katherine Holtman and Creecy combining on consecutive blocks to pull even at 20-20, and Koonsen adding an ace as SFA reached 24-20. The Cardinals stopped the run with one point, but Holtman finished the set with a kill from Aniston Collins for a 25-21 SFA win.

SFA built an early 4-1 lead in the third set after Cravens and Henderson combined on a block, Henderson added another block with Kahle serving, and Kahle followed with an ace. The Cardinals trimmed the margin to 10-9, but Holtman stopped that push with a kill. SFA later held a 16-13 edge after back-to-back kills by Koonsen. SFA still led 20-16 after a Cardinals attack error and 21-18 on Holtman's kill, but the Cardinals scored five straight points to move ahead 23-21. Kahle cut the deficit to 23-22, but UIW answered with a kill, and the Cardinals closed the set 25-22 on an SFA attack error.

The Cardinals built early separation in the fourth set and led 13-6 before stretching the lead to 18-10. SFA started to close the margin with a Henderson-Kahle block and a Kahle ace, then later scored four straight points, including a Cravens kill and a Creecy-Koonsen block, to cut the Cardinals' lead to 19-16. The Cardinals answered with four straight points to go up 23-16, but SFA kept the set alive after reaching 24-18, getting kills from Koonsen and Kahle along with two Cardinals attack errors to pull within 24-22. The Cardinals then secured a 25-22 fourth-set win.

The Cardinals scored the first two points of the fifth set before SFA pulled even at 2-2 on kills by Creecy and Kahle. After the teams traded points to 4-4, the Cardinals moved ahead 6-4, and later pushed the margin to 8-5 and 10-7. SFA continued to get points from Creecy, Koonsen and Kahle, but the Cardinals stayed in front, reached 14-10 on a kill and closed the set 15-10 on a block.

PLAYERS OF THE MATCH
• Caroline Kahle- 15 kills (new career high), 28 digs (led team & new career high), 4 service aces
• Avery Koonsen- 17 kills (led team & new career high), 24 digs (new career high)
• Kyanna Creecy- 8 blocks (led team), 7 kills on .313 hitting
• Aniston Collins- 23 assists (led team)

SFA is 10-8 overall and 4-1 in Southland play. The Cardinals are 6-8 overall and 4-1 in Southland play.

NEXT UP
SFA will wrap up the weekend as they host Houston Christian on Saturday, Oct. 10, at noon at Shelton Gym.

FOLLOW THE LADYJACKS
For all the latest information on SFA Volleyball, visit SFAjacks.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the Ladyjacks on X, Instagram and Facebook.