Box Score Box Score
THIBODAUX – Southeastern Louisiana senior
Jessica Srajer finished with a team-high 12 kills and freshman
Taylor Buckner recorded a double-double to lead the Lady Lions to a 26-24, 25-22, 18-25, 25-19 win over Nicholls in the Southland Conference volleyball opener for both teams Friday night at Stopher Gymnasium.
Southeastern improved to 5-7 overall and 1-0 in Southland play with the victory. Nicholls State fell to 5-9 overall and 0-1 in league action.
Srajer was one of three Lady Lions with double-digit kills in the win. Freshman
Courtney Donald added 11 kills and finished with a tremendous .526 hitting percentage. Buckner was among the team's leaders in both kills (10) and digs (12). Senior
Lauren Mayer and junior
Alex Greer finished with 13 and 10 digs, respectively.
Sophomore setter
Arianne Cruckshank continues to play well for the Lady Lions, finishing the match with 32 assists. Led by Donald, Southeastern finished with a solid .252 hitting percentage. Senior
Julie Elliott, sophomore
Paige Dollison and freshman
Alexis Braghini each had three blocks for the Lady Lions, who finished with 16 blocks in the match.
The solid hitting percentage and high block total were the result of the team's hard work heading into the Southland opener, according to Southeastern head coach Julie Langford.
“We're very pleased to open Southland Conference play with a victory, especially on the road,” Langford commented. “After last weekend, we felt we needed to improve our blocking and overall offensive performance. We had a great week of preparation and worked hard improving in those areas. Our team was extremely focused tonight and did a nice job implementing what we worked on this week in practice.”
Jennifer Brandt led Nicholls with 13 kills, followed by Manieka Golden with 11 kills. Rachel Yezak had a double-double with 10 kills and 11 digs, while Rachel Spreen finished with a match-high 13 digs for the Lady Colonels. Amy Whitehead added 35 assists for Nicholls.
Southeastern hit .244 in the first set, led by Donald's four kills and .571 hitting percentage on the way to a 26-24 win. A Donald kill and a tandem block by Elliott and Srajer broke a 24-24 tie and gave Southeastern a one-set advantage.
Donald had four more kills in a 25-22 second set victory for the Lady Lions. Southeastern hit .286 in the set and held off a late Nicholls rally to head into the break with a two-set advantage. Nicholls avoided a sweep with a strong performance in the third set, hitting .259 and overcoming six Southeastern blocks on the way to taking the set, 25-18.
Southeastern ended the Lady Colonels' comeback hopes with a .346 hitting percentage in a 25-19 fourth set win. Srajer, Buckner, Mayer and Cruckshank had three kills each in the deciding set, with Cruckshank's kill closing out the match.
Southeastern will return to action on Thursday, travelling to Natchitoches for a 7 p.m. Southland match at Northwestern State.
