HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana volleyball team swept past the University of New Orleans in straight sets Saturday, 25-19, 25-13, 28-26, at the University Center, giving the Lady Lions their best start to Southland Conference play in more than a decade.
Southeastern (7-11, 4-2 Southland) sits tied with Northwestern State for fourth place in the Southland, winning four of its first six conference matches for the first time since at least the 2003 season. The win over UNO (6-15, 0-7 Southland) was the Lady Lions' fifth-straight over their in-state rival.
Falling behind early, Southeastern rallied from a four-point deficit in the first set. Taking the lead for good, 15-14, the Lady Lions scored 15 of the match's final 21 points. The momentum carried over to the second set with freshman outside hitter
Sarah Friedman leading the way. The Houston, Texas, native picked up seven of her match-high 10 kills in the set as the Lady Lions combined for a .349 attack percentage.
The Privateers started to put something together offensively during the middle of the third set, using a 12-6 run to jump out to a late lead, 21-15. Southeastern started its comeback off three-consecutive attack errors by UNO, two coming on blocks by
Elizabeth Ramee with help from
Rachael Bunn and
Shelby Devlin. Ramee then picked up back-to-back kills, bringing the Lady Lions within one. Southeastern completed the match on another Ramee kill.
All 14 Lady Lions saw action in the match.
Landry Bullock contributed nine kills to the offensive effort, while Bunn and
Tiffany Thomas added eight kills each. The duo of
Morgan Miller (22 assists) and
Mikayla Shippy (21 assists) split setting duties.
Bunn led Southeastern with four total blocks. Three players, including
Morgan Todd (27), Ramee (11) and
Parrie Hartley (10), posted double-digit digs for the Lady Lions.
Southeastern compiled a .224 attack percentage (51 kills, 19 errors, 143 total attempts) as a team, its fifth-highest this season, and combined for six total blocks.
Cara Sander and Kelsea Hundtoft led the Privateers in kills with six and five, respsectively. Celeste Ramirez turned in a double-double, handing out 13 assists in the final two sets, after serving as the libero in the first, and recording 14 digs. Sander also chipped in 14 digs while Lauren Levy posted a team-best 18 digs in the match.
UNO hit .030 as a team (25 kills, 21 assists, 135 total attempts) and threw up seven total blocks.
Southeastern will play its next two contests on the road before returning home to host Incarnate Word, Oct. 23, at the University Center. The Lady Lions travel to Stephen F. Austin, Thursday, and Northwestern State, Oct. 18, in the coming week.
Southeastern La. def. New Orleans 25-19, 25-13, 28-26
New Orleans (6-15, 0-7 SLC) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Sander, Cara 6-4-3; Hundtoft, Kelsea 5-0-1; Gracey, Sophie 4-0-1; Berry, Taylor 3-0-1; Frank, Brooklyn 3-0-1; Bryant, Rondolyn 3-0-1; Levy, Lauren 1-1-0; Everett, Ashley 0-0-4; Ramirez, Celeste 0-1-1;
Totals 25-6-7.0. (Assists) - Ramirez, Celeste 13.
(Dig leaders) - Levy, Lauren 18; Sander, Cara 14; Ramirez, Celeste 14
Southeastern La. (7-11, 4-2 SLC) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Friedman, Sarah 10-0-1; Bullock, Landry 9-1-0; Bunn, Rachael 8-0-4; Thomas, Tiffany 8-0-1; Turk, Veronica 4-0-1; Hartley, Parrie 3-0-0; Grace, Lindsay 3-0-2; Ramee, Elizabeth 3-0-2; Devlin, Shelby 2-0-1; Miller, Morgan 1-0-0;
Totals 51-1-6.0. (Assists) - Miller, Morgan 22; Shippy, Mikayla 21.
(Dig leaders) - Todd, Morgan 27; Ramee, Elizabeth 11; Hartley, Parrie 10; Balser, Brooke 9
Site: Hammond, La. (University Center)
Date: Oct 11, 2014
Attend: 150
Time: 1:34
Referees: Kevin Wiemken, Doug Couvillion
