CONWAY, Ark. – No. 2-seeded Stephen F. Austin swept past No. 7-seeded Southeastern Louisiana in straight sets, 25-20, 25-11, 25-22, Friday at the Farris Center in the opening match of the 2016 Southland Conference Volleyball Tournament.
 
The Lady Lions (7-23) gave SFA (20-10) all they could handle in the first set, matching the Ladyjacks' 32 attack attempts but only managing a .094 hitting percentage and committing eight errors while SFA hit .219. The Ladyjacks stifled Southeastern's offense at the net, notching 5.0 total blocks. Freshman KK Payne and sophomore Haley Coleman both registered four kills for SFA, leading the way to a 25-20 victory in set one.
 
The Ladyjacks started hot in the second set, jumping out to a 6-1 lead and forcing an early Southeastern timeout. The Lady Lions prevented another one-sided scoring run but still had no answer for SFA's conference-best defense. When Southeastern head coach Jim Smoot called his second timeout with the score at 20-8, the Ladyjacks brought their block total to 8.0 while holding the Lady Lions to a .066 hitting percentage. SFA closed out set two with a 25-11 score and took a 2-0 lead into the intermission.
 
Southeastern went on its longest scoring run of the match with four straight points in set three, giving the Lady Lions a 7-6 lead – their first since the opening points of the first set. The Lady Lions did not go quietly, pulling the score as close as 22-20 in the third set. SFA held on for a 25-22 win to seal their opening round sweep.
 
SFA notched a .293 hitting percentage while holding the Lady Lions to .119. The Ladyjack defense was led by 16 digs from All-Conference selection Lexus Cain and eight block assists from Walker. Ann Hollas finished with 25 assists.
 
Senior Landry Bullock led the Southeastern attack. The native of Spring, Texas, notched a match-high 13 kills, giving her 911 for her career and moving her into ninth place in the Lady Lions' record book. She also finished her career ranked seventh all-time with 2,825 total attempts.
 
Haley Baker, a sophomore from Elkton, Maryland, handed out 25 assists to tie SFA's Hollas.
 
Monica Ramon, a sophomore from San Antonio, Texas, led the Lady Lions with 14 digs.
 
Rachael Bunn, a senior from San Juan Capistrano, finishes her career tied with Courtney Donald and former teammate Veronica Turk for ninth in solo blocks (41). She ranks third in both block assists (271) and total blocks (312). Her .248 career attack percentage ranks as the sixth-best in program history.
 
Southeastern's season comes to an end while SFA advances to play the winner of No. 3-seeded Sam Houston State (16-13, 10-6 Southland) and No. 6-seeded Northwestern State (12-19, 7-9 Southland) Saturday at 12 p.m. The tournament's championship match is scheduled for Sunday at 3:05 p.m. and will be carried live on ESPN3.
 
 
Stephen F. Austin def. Southeastern La. 25-20, 25-11, 25-22
 
Southeastern La. (7-23) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Bullock, Landry 13-0-0; Holden, Chloee 5-0-0; Hartley, Parrie 5-0-1; Purcell, Elyssa 4-1-1; Bunn, Rachael 4-0-0; Alcazar, Savannah 3-0-1; Odom, Madi 2-0-0; Ramon, Monica 0-1-0; Totals 36-2-2.0. (Assists) - Baker, Haley 25. (Dig leaders) - Ramon, Monica 14; Purcell, Elyssa 9
 
Stephen F. Austin (20-10) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Payne, KK 8-0-3; Daron, Danae 7-2-4; Walker, Justice 7-0-8; Coleman, Haley 6-2-2; McIntyre, Abby 5-0-0; Hollas, Ann 3-0-5; Redmond, Peyton 1-0-0; Evans, Corin 1-1-0; Hanna, Makenzee 0-0-2; Totals 38-5-13.0. (Assists) - Hollas, Ann 25. (Dig leaders) - Cain, Lexus 16; Coleman, Haley 9
 
Site: Conway, Ark. (Farris Center)
Date: Nov 18, 2016   Attend: 248   Time: 1:23   
Referees: Gloria Cox, Wanda Roberts