Stephen F. Austin Advances to Southland Semifinals
SAN ANTONIO - Stephen F. Austin sophomore Mary Caitlin Bottles had season highs with both 16 kills and eight blocks as the No. 3 Ladyjacks overcame a rowdy crowd at the Convocation Center with a 3-1 (27-25, 25-27, 25-19, 25-21) win over tournament host No. 6 UTSA in the first round of the Southland Conference Tournament.
The win advances SFA (23-12) to the Southland Tournament semifinals at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday where they will square off with No. 7 Nicholls who upset No. 2 Sam Houston in the first round by a 3-1 score. The Ladyjacks and Colonels split their two matches in the regular season.
Bottles saved her best for last, slamming in eight of her 16 kills in the final set alone while five of her eight blocks were found in the third set.
Kelsey Owens was the only other Ladyjack in double figures with 10 kills, while Ashley Bailey and Emily Franklin each had eight. Bailey was able to add three solo blocks as well as the SFA defense rejected 11 Roadrunner (12-19) shots on the night and held UTSA to just .110 hitting.
Madison Hanlan went over 20 digs for the eighth time this season with 21 dig and Melissa Miksch had 12 with each keeping countless balls off the floor throughout the night.
SFA had to overcome poor hitting early on and needed a late run in the first set to overcome .065 hitting in the frame. The Ladyjacks trailed by as much as four at 21-17 before taking its first lead since early on at 26-25, and it took only one match-point try to walk get up 1-0 on a kill from Franklin.
The second set was nearly the same as the first, except this time it was the Runners cashing in on the win with .209 hitting and four kills from Stefanie Robbins. UTSA led throughout the set, but could never stretch it out more than two points before SFA drew even at 25 apiece. However, that was as close as the Ladyjacks would get with a service error from Bottles that just missed down the right sideline setting up a match point try and was tallied on a Ladyjack mishandled set.
But after only hitting .137 in the first two sets, the Ladyjacks jumped up to a .173 clip in the final two sets, beginning with a 15-kill third that put SFA just one set away from victory. An 8-0 run turned a 6-5 Ladyjack deficit into a 13-6 advantage was the biggest run by either squad during the entire match and gave SFA enough breathing room to hang on despite UTSA drawing back to within three points at 20-17.
The fourth set saw the Ladyjacks turn to Bottles who doubled her kill total in the frame and she had a hand in three of the final six Ladyjack points with SFA hitting a match-best .256 in the frame and advance to the semifinals.
Post Match Quotes:
Stephen F. Austin Coach Debbie Humphreys
On the girls staying composed
"I am so proud of the way they played tonight and the way they kept their composure. It was a battle all the way through, with each set being close and on UTSA's home court with their fans. But we showed a lot of confidence and now we have to carry it over to tomorrow."
On MC Bottles' big night
"I called a timeout specifically to try and spark her. I wanted her to be more aggressive offensively and obviously it got her attention. She came out and was much more aggressive and explosive and had a great night."
Looking ahead to Nicholls
"I expect to see the Nicholls we saw in Thibodaux, not the one we saw last week in Nacogdoches. They are such a tough team, but we feel as though if we take care of our business then we are fine. We feel like this weekend is about us executing and playing our brand of volleyball."
Stephen F. Austin Sophomore MC Bottles
On playing on UTSA's home court
"We just played as relaxed as we could. Even though we got down we were still able to keep our composure and our confidence. We are playing our best volleyball of the year right now, and hopefully we can keep that up."
On playing UTSA after getting by them in 5 earlier in the year
"We did not really have any issues coming in here since we had gotten by them earlier this year at our place. We came into this weekend very happy with our bracket and knowing that we are in perfect position to get to the finals and bring home a tournament championship."
Looking ahead to Nicholls
"That team plays so hard and is so very scrappy. I think Sam Houston might have underestimated them a bit in their match and we know that we can't do that. They already beat us once at their place and I'm not sure that they played their best game at our place last week. We have to think that we will see their best game tomorrow."
UTSA Coach Laura Neugebauer-Groff
"I thought we competed, but when it came down to needing to perform well, we weren't able to get the job done. We had a lead in all four sets, but we've had a hard time finishing people off this season and it's the same problem we had tonight."
UTSA Junior Kendra Rowland
"It was a frustrating and disappointing loss, but we fought hard until the end. We were so close every set but were unable to get the job done when we needed to."