NACOGDOCHES, Texas—McNeese volleyball couldn't stop several scoring runs and the blocking attack by Stephen F. Austin here Thursday night in a 3-0 (21-25, 15-25, 23-25) Southland Conference loss.
 
Stephen F. Austin ended the match with 21 blocks that led to a .115 hitting percent by the Cowgirls. The loss drops McNeese to 4-14 overall and 0-3 in conference play. The Ladyjacks improved to 10-6 overall and remained undefeated at 3-0 in the SLC.
 
"Credit SFA, they played a great match," said McNeese head coach Ashleigh Fitzgerald. "While I thought we defended better than last weekend, we still have periodic lapses in varying rotations and in varying facets of the game. We have got to find some consistency," said Fitzgerald.
 
Freshman Katelyn Elliott and junior Jenny D'Alessandro led the Cowgirls on offense with 12 and 11 kills, respectively. D'Alessandro led all players with a .524 hitting percent without committing an error in 21 attempts. Bridget Justis was solid on defense and came away with 21 digs while Nelms, the Cowgirls' kill leader only had four kills on the night but picked up 10 digs and two blocks. Setter Alexandra Aguilera ended the match with 27 assists.
 
"D'Alessandro was a legit offensive weapon tonight and it was even more impressive because it was against two really great blocking middles," Fitzgerald said.
 
Stephen F. Austin, who has yet to drop a set in conference play was led in kills by Justice Walker who ended the match with 13 and a .522 hitting percent. Peyton Redmond contributed with a double-double with 10 kills and 16 digs. Lexus Cain led all players with 22 assists and Ann Hollas picked up 35 assists.
 
McNeese opened the match by scoring the first two points to take a 2-0 lead but Stephen F. Austin went on a 10-2 run and the Cowgirls couldn't overcome the deficit, dropping the first set 25-21.
 
In the second set, the Cowgirls trailed early and couldn't get anything past the Ladyjacks' blocking and the offense of Walker as SFA took a 2-0 match lead with a 25-15 second set win.
 
McNeese jumped out to an 8-4 lead in the third set but SFA went on a 4-0 run to tie it at eight all. The Cowgirls continued to put pressure on offense and regained the lead at 11-9 but the Ladyjacks erased the Cowgirl lead by scoring nine straight points to take an 18-11 lead.
 
A kill by McNeese's Elliot stopped the SFA scoring run with a kill then kills by Myers cut the lead to 18-14.
 
The Cowgirls would go away easy and kept SFA on its heels. Trailing 24-21, McNeese got a point off a SFA error before a kill by Elliott put McNeese within one point (23-24). SFA would score on the next play to take the set and the overall match.
 
McNeese will remain on the road and will travel to Sam Houston State Saturday for a 2 p.m. match.