Box Score



HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University volleyball team started strong, but Lamar came roaring back to take the final three sets Saturday for a Southland Conference victory in the University Center.

Southeastern (5-5, 1-1 Southland) took the first two sets, 29-27 and 26-24, but a strong hitting performance (.517 attack percentage) in the third set spurred the Lady Cardinals to take the final three, 25-15, 25-22, 15-7.

Courtney Donald, the Southland Conference Offensive Player of the Week, recorded 19 kills for the second-consecutive match. Lady Lion freshman Veronica Turk contributed 10 kills and Becky Beklja dished out 35 assists.

The Lady Lions fell behind by as much as six points in the first set before changing course. Down 19-13, a Bekelja kill started an 9-3 Southeastern run to tie the set at 22 apiece.

In the second set, Southeastern twice ran the lead up to seven before fending off the late-charging Lady Cardinals.

Up two sets to none, Southeastern built a 7-2 lead in the third set. Lamar (9-7, 1-1 Southland) pulled back into contention on the hitting of Wendy Krell, who record six of her match-high 23 kills in the set and added seven more in the fourth.

Down 10-4 in the fifth set, the Lady Lions made a small run on the serving of freshman Morgan Todd. Climbing within four before Lamar finished off the match.

Junior libero Megan McMillin established a new career best with 26 digs for Southeastern. Junior Lindsey Young contributed 10 digs as well to the Lady Lion defensive effort.

Sierra Whittaker (19 kills) and Courtney Moore (15 kills) joined Krell in double digits for Lamar while setter Alex Morford contributed 63 assists. Libero Megan Schwartz tallied a match-high 27 digs for the Lady Cardinals.

Southeastern embarks on its first Southland Conference road trip of the season this coming week. The Lady Lions have matches Thursday at Oral Roberts and Saturday at Central Arkansas.


Lamar def. Southeastern La. 27-29,24-26,25-15,25-22,15-7
Lamar (9-7, 1-1) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Wendy Krell 23-1-2; Sierra Whittaker 19-1-0; Cortney Moore 15-0-1; Rebekah Rightnour 7-0-3; Tiffany Hunnicutt 4-0-0; Alex Morford 2-0-1; Christina Hobbs 1-0-1; Madi Martin 1-0-0; Megan Schwartz 0-1-0; Erika Rojas 0-2-0; Cayli McKinney 0-1-0; Kensey Camp 0-3-0; Totals 72-9-4.0. (Assists) – Alex Morford 63. (Dig leaders) - Megan Schwartz 27; Erika Rojas 15; Cayli McKinney 9; Kensey Camp 9

Southeastern La. (5-5, 1-1) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Donald, Courtney 19-0-3; Turk, Veronica 10-1-2; Grayson, Tamra 7-0-3; Devlin, Shelby 4-0-0; Bekelja, Becky 4-1-2; Krohn, Cherish 3-0-0; Young, Lindsey 2-0-1; Buckner, Taylor 1-0-0; McMillin, Megan 0-2-0; Totals 50-4-8.0. (Assists) - Bekelja, Becky 35. (Dig leaders) - McMillin, Megan 26; Young, Lindsey 10; Krohn, Cherish 8; Todd, Morgan 8; Bekelja, Becky 8