JACKSON, Miss. – Stepping outside of Southland Conference play Wednesday, Southeastern Louisiana volleyball coach Geno Frugoli is looking to gain experience for some of his younger players at Jackson State.
First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. at T.B. Ellis Gymnasium. Periodic updates will be available through Twitter by following @sluathletics.
“We want to see some of our other back row players get in and do a good job,” Frugoli said. “We may change the setting up a little bit, but basically we need to keep getting better at the things we've been working on the whole year. We're still trying to find those couple of points that might push us over the hump against these Southland opponents.”
Southeastern (5-9, 1-5 Southland) dropped a tightly-contested, four-set decision to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi this past Saturday despite statistically outplaying the Islanders.
Courtney Donald leads the second-best hitting team (.195 attack percentage) in the Southland. The senior from Tomball, Texas, is second in the conference in kills (3.88 per set) and her .365 hitting percentage ranks fourth.
Veronica Turk (2.48 k/set),
Tamra Grayson (1.69 k/set) and
Shelby Devlin (1.40 k/set) provide offensive support for Southeastern under the direction of setter
Becky Bekelja (8.98 assists per set).
Junior
Megan McMillin, ranked third in the conference with an average of 4.67 digs per set, anchors the Lady Lion defense. Bekelja (2.37 d/set),
Morgan Todd (2.06 d/set) and
Cherish Krohn (1.91 d/set) lend a helping hand on the back row.
Up front, Donald (0.75 blocks per set), Devlin (0.73 b/set) and
Zoe Douglas (0.67 b/set) lead the way in blocking.
Last season, Southeastern dropped the first two sets to Jackson State before rallying to take the match in five.
“We'll be facing a very talented hitter in Christine Edwards,” Frugoli said. “She's very physical and will be a challenge for us. Jackson State won their conference last year and played Nebraska in the first round of the NCAA tournament.”
Jackson State (6-11, 1-0 SWAC) has won its last four matches, all in straight sets. The Lady Tigers defeated Grambling State, a future Southeastern opponent, 25-10, 25-8, 25-9, this past Thursday.
Edwards (3.59 k/set) and Jasmine Knight (2.02 k/set) lead the Jackson State offense with Jenna Siddiqui (7.39 a/set) seeing the bulk of the playing time at setter. Edwards (1.02 per set) and Jackson State (2.41 per set) also lead the nation in service aces.
Dana Yoshimura (2.39 d/set), Angelica Kelley (2.20 d/set) and Edwards (2.07 d/set) form the core of the Lady Tiger defensive effort. Mikayla Rolle (0.82 b/set) and Kameron Boggan (0.69 b/set) are Jackson State's top blockers.
“It'll be a hostile environment at their place,” Frugoli said. “We've got a lot of challenges facing us, but it's a good road test.”
Southeastern returns to Southland action Saturday with a 2 p.m. match at Nicholls State.
