NACODGOCHES, Texas – The Southeastern Louisiana volleyball team heads to the piney woods of East Texas for a 6:30 p.m. Southland Conference match Thursday against Stephen F. Austin, opening a key trip it will wrap up Saturday at Northwestern State with an 11:30 a.m. conference contest.
Southeastern (7-11, 4-2 Southland) sits tied with Northwestern State (7-12, 4-2 Southland) for fourth place in the Southland, winning four of its first six conference matches for the first time since the 2002 season. SFA (13-7, 6-0 Southland) has not dropped a conference match this season, but still sits one-half game behind leader Central Arkansas.
Live statistics are available for both matches. LionVision subscribers will have access to video stream of Saturday's match courtesy Northwestern State. Links for both are available on the volleyball schedule page at www.LionSports.net.
The Lady Lions, who have won their last two conference matches and five of their last seven overall, swept past the University of New Orleans last time out. All 14 Lady Lions saw action in the match.
Landry Bullock contributed nine kills to the offensive effort, while
Rachael 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 in the contest for the Lady Lions. Todd's efforts helped her clinch the Southland Conference's defensive player of the week award, the Lady Lions' first weekly conference award since the 2012 season.
This season, Hartley (2.42 kills per set), Thomas (2.27 k/set),
Veronica Turk (2.02 k/set) and Shippy (9.24 assists per set) are leading the way for Southeastern offensively. Shippy's assist numbers place her sixth in the conference. Bunn is the team leader in blocks (0.95 b/set). Todd is fourth in the Southland with 5.17 digs per set, a number that ranked her 20th in the nation entering the week.
SFA is undefeated in Southland play despite having played four of its first six conference matches on the road. The match against Southeastern opens a string of six-consecutive home matches for the Ladyjacks.
Jill Ivy's 3.68 kills per set is the fifth-best average in the Southland. Justice Walker (.305) and Jacque Allen (.297) rank fourth and fifth, respectively, in attack percentage. Ivy (.263) is ninth. Ladyjack libero OJ Olson ranks just ahead of Todd with 5.25 digs per set.
Northwestern State had a three-match winning streak snapped this past Saturday at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
Mackenzie Neely (2.86 k/set) leads four players with at least a pair of kills per set, including Stacey Difrancesco (2.03 k/set), Caiti O'Connell (2.03 k/set) and Lauren Agan (2.00 k/set). The Lady Demons rotate a trio of players at setter. After losing Keelie Arneson, the conference leader in digs (6.82 per set), to a season-ending injury at the end of September, sophomore Bailey Martin has stepped into the role and currently ranks fifth in the Southland with 5.14 digs per set.
Prior to hosting the Lady Lions, Northwestern State faces UNO Thursday at Prather Coliseum in Natchitoches, Louisiana.
Following the trip, Southeastern returns home to host Incarnate Word, Oct. 23, at the University Center.
