NATCHITOCHES, La. – Fresh off a tournament championship at the Tangi Tourism Lion Classic, the Southeastern Louisiana volleyball team opens Southland Conference play this weekend with matches Thursday at Northwestern State and Saturday at Stephen F. Austin.
Thursday's first serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Prather Coliseum and fans can watch the match live on LionVision, Southeastern's subscription-based video stream, or follow live statistics. Links for both, provided by Northwestern State, are available on the volleyball schedule page at www.LionSports.net. Mobile users can also access both live stats and video (www.lionsports.net/mobile).
One of just five teams in the 14-team Southland with at least a .500 record, Southeastern (6-6) is ranked near the top of the conference in several defensive categories. The Lady Lions are second in blocks (2.13 b/set) and opponent hitting percentage (.163) as well as sixth in digs (14.74 d/set).
Leading the way for Southeastern offensively,
Tiffany Thomas is third in the Southland with an average of 3.62 kills per set while
Rachael Bunn's .404 attack percentage is second-best overall.
Mikayla Shippy (9.70 assists per set) is fifth in the conference in assists.
The defensive effort is led by
Landry Bullock (1.09 b/set) and Bunn (0.90 b/set). Bullock is second and Bunn is eighth in the Southland.
Morgan Todd (4.46 d/set) is fifth in the conference in digs.
Northwestern State (3-8) has faced a rugged pre-conference schedule that included Arkansas, New Mexico, North Texas, Utah, Baylor and Colorado. The Lady Demon's wins have come over Prairie View A&M, Appalachian State and Southern Miss.
Ashley Elrod (2.86 k/set) and Caiti O'Connell (2.83 k/set) lead the offensive attack while Natalie Jaeger (4.42 a/set) and Emily Johnson (4.36 a/set) have split setting duties for Northwestern State. Libero Keelie Arneson (4.89 d/set) leads the Southland in digs.
After facing the Lady Demons, Southeastern returns to action at 1 p.m. Saturday at SFA (8-4). The Ladyjacks lead the all-time series with Southeastern, 29-4, but the Lady Lions swept the season series last year.
Justice Walker (.412 attack percentage) and Jill Ivy (3.33 k/set) pace the SFA offense with help from Paige Holland (8.94 a/set). Jacque Allen (1.05 b/set), Walker (0.95 b/set) and OJ Olson anchor the Ladyjack defense.
Following the road swing, Southeastern returns home to host a pair of conference matches against Central Arkansas (Sept. 26) and Oral Roberts (Sept. 28).
