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Volleyball 10/3/2008 10:41:25 PM

LADY LIONS RALLY FOR WIN OVER NORTHWESTERN STATE

Southeastern Completes Five-Match Win Over Rival Demons

LaToya Anthony Sparked a Lady Lion Rally on Friday Night

Box Score

Southeastern vs. Northwestern State Box Score (.html format)
                           1    2    3   4    5
Southeastern       17  25   17 27 15
Northwestern St. 25  20   25 25 12

HAMMOND - Junior middle blocker LaToya Anthony returned from injury to fuel a Lady Lion comeback and junior right side hitter Lauren Mayer notched a double-double with 11 kills and 13 digs as the Southeastern Louisiana University women's volleyball team (5-6, 1-1 Southland Conference) rallied to defeat in-state SLC rival Northwestern State (6-7, 1-3 SLC) by a final of 3-2 (17-25, 25-20, 17-25, 27-25, 15-12) on Friday night at the University Center.

"This was a great win for us," head coach Julie Langford said. "We got behind early, but the team did a good job of adjusting and battling back. Once we forced the fifth set, we could tell that our girls were really focused and determined to come out on top. We've had some five-set matches not go our way lately and it was good to come away with the win."

Things did not start well for the Lady Lions as Northwestern State rolled to a 25-17 win in the opening frame. However, Southeastern recovered with its best set of the night in the second.

The Lady Lions combined to hit .267 (13-5-30) as a team as Mayer (3-0-4, .750), freshman middle blocker Paige Dollison (4-0-5, .800) and sophomore outside hitter Allison Jones (3-0-5, .600) each hit over .600 in the second as Southeastern claimed a 25-20 win to even the match at 1-1 after two.

A hot-hitting Northwestern State offense rallied in the third, hitting .500 (16-2-28) en route to a 25-17 win to claim a 2-1 advantage, but the Lady Lions recovered in the fourth as Anthony, who returned to the court after a knee injury sustained in a win over Jackson State on Sept. 12, posted a pair of kills and assisted on two key blocks late in the fourth as Southeastern claimed a 27-25 win to force a fifth and final set.

The Lady Lions jumped out to an early lead in the final set, but Northwestern State battled back to tie things up at 11-11. Anthony then posted a kill and assisted on a block with Mayer to key a 3-1 run as Southeastern hung on for the 15-12 win.

"She (Anthony) played great tonight," Langford said. "She really came up with some big points when we needed them. As a whole, this was a great team win. We kept making adjustments and battling and we were able to come out on top. Now we face a quick turnaround and we need to get prepared for a good Central Arkansas team on Saturday. But it was great to come out on top in a hard-fought match, and this should serve as a confidence booster for our team as the conference schedule continues."

The Lady Lions will return to action on Saturday when the Central Arkansas Bears visit the University Center. First serve is set for 3 p.m. Live stats will be available at www.LionSports.net.

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