Box Score Box Score
HAMMOND – Taylor Buckner posted a double-double with a career-high 21 kills along with 15 digs while freshman
Stephanie Mueller added 14 kills as Southeastern rallied to a 27-29, 25-20, 25-13, 25-16 victory over Southern on Thursday at the University Center.
Alex Greer added 18 digs, leaving her two shy of reaching 1,000 in her career, while freshman
Lindsey Young recorded a season-high 58 assists as Southeastern (8-6) won its third match in its last four contests. Southern fell to 2-5 overall.
“Overall, it was a very good hitting performance and the pieces are coming together all at the same time and it was a good night,” Southeastern head coach Julie Langford said. “We were looking at transitioning Alex back in the lineup after missing some time and tonight was a good opportunity to get her feet wet before we open (Southland) conference play on Friday.”
Buckner, who set career-highs in kills, attacks (46) and points scored (21.5), hit .391 at the net to help a potent Southeastern attack that hit a season-high .287 as a team.
Courtney Donald (8-0-18) led Southeastern with a .444 hitting percentage with Mueller (14-3-28) hitting .393 and freshman
Kinsey Williams (5-2-11) .273.
Freshman
Cherish Krohn added nine kills for the Lady Lions while
Paige Dollison added a career-high 11 digs.
Southeastern led 24-22 in the opening set before Southern scored the next three points to tie the contest. Buckner gave Southeastern two opportunities to close out the opening set with kills, but the Lady Jags knotted the score each time before an attack error on Southeastern and an ace by Michelle Williams gave Southern the opening set.
The Lady Lions turned a 12-8 advantage in the second set into a 20-12 cushion, getting aces by Young and Greer before Donald capped the run with a kill. Southeastern, which hit .189 in the opening set, topped that with a .306 average in the second set before hitting .371 and .333 in the final two sets.
Williams and Kirstern Buggage each led Southern with 11 kills while Jaquincia Williams added 10. Megan Gauthier led the Lady Jags with 40 assists while Lourena Beathely and Morgan Broussard had 13 digs apiece.
Southeastern will open Southland Conference play on Friday as it faces Nicholls State in a 7 p.m. match at Stopher Gym. The Lady Lions, competing in the Nicholls Challenge this weekend, will close out the two-day event on Saturday facing Louisiana Tech and Houston.
Southeastern La. def. Southern 27-29, 25-20, 25-13, 25-16
Southern (2-5) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Buggage 11-0-2; M. Williams 11-1-1; J. Williams 10-0-1; Savoy 7-0-0; Mitchell 4-0-5; Beasley 2-0-0; Gauthier 1-0-2; Beathely 1-0-0; Broussard 1-1-0; Totals 48-2-6.0. (Assists) – Gauthier 40. (Dig leaders) – Beathely 13; Broussard 13; Savoy 10; Buggage 9; Gauthier 8.
Southeastern La. (8-6) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Buckner 21-0-1; Mueller 14-0-1; Krohn 9-0-1; Donald 8-0-3; Williams 5-0-1; Jones 4-0-0; Dollison 1-1-0; Cheeks 1-0-2; Greer 1-1-0; Barr 0-1-0; Young 0-3-1; Totals 64-6-6.0. (Assists) – Young 58. (Dig leaders) – Greer 18; Buckner 15; Dollison 11; Young 9.
