THIBODAUX, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana volleyball squad rallied to take the final two sets from in-state rival Nicholls State Thursday to complete a five-set comeback win in Southland Conference play at Stopher Gym, 25-22, 23-25, 19-25, 25-12, 16-14.

Southeastern (9-14, 6-5 Southland) claimed the first set, out-hitting Nicholls (8-16, 4-7 Southland) .472 to .325 on the attack. The Lady Lion offense struggled for the next two sets, but came roaring back to .400 in grabbing the fourth set to tie the match.

Falling behind in the fifth and final set, 12-7, Southeastern scored nine of the final 11 points in the match to claim the victory, staying ahead of the Colonels, and tying Houston Baptist for sixth place in the Southland Conference standings. At the end of the regular season, the top eight teams will advance to the conference tournament.

Freshman Sarah Friedman was one of four Lady Lions posting double-digit kills, recording 13 to lead the team. It was the fourth-consecutive match in double digits for the Houston, Texas native. Parrie Hartley (11), Veronica Turk (11) and Tiffany Thomas (10) joined Friedman atop the team kill chart.

Thomas also tallied a career-best 17 digs for the first double-double of her career, one of two Lady Lions to reach that level in the contest. Mikayla Shippy handed out a match-high 45 assists and picked up 10 digs for the eighth double-double of her career.

Southeastern recorded nine total team blocks, with Thomas and Rachael Bunn contributing on five each. Morgan Todd posted a career-best 38 digs to lead all players. Brooke Balser contributed 16 digs to SLU's defensive efforts.

Nicholls' Kaci Eaton led all players with 23 kills. Kali Schwartz and Stephanie Tobison chipped 10 kills apiece. All three recorded double-doubles, with Tobison posting 17 digs while Eaton and Schwartz each added 13 for the Colonels. Kalynn Egea led the squad with 31 digs. Ainsley Marroccoli led Nicholls with 29 assists, and Alyse Barclay contributed another 19 to aid the offense.

Southeastern travels to Lake Charles for a 2 p.m. conference contest Saturday at McNeese State. The Cowgirls (13-14, 3-8 Southland) defeated the University of New Orleans in three sets Thursday at Memorial Gym.

Live statistics are available the match, and LionVision subscribers will have access to a video stream of Saturday's match courtesy of McNeese State. Links for both are available on the volleyball schedule page at www.LionSports.net.


Southeastern La. def. Nicholls 25-22, 23-25, 19-25, 25-12, 16-14
Southeastern La. (9-14, 6-5 SLC) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Friedman, Sarah 13-3-3; Turk, Veronica 11-1-4; Hartley, Parrie 11-1-0; Thomas, Tiffany 10-1-5; Bunn, Rachael 8-0-5; Bullock, Landry 7-0-1; Shippy, Mikayla 6-0-0; Balser, Brooke 0-1-0; Todd, Morgan 0-1-0; Totals 66-8-9.0. (Assists) - Shippy, Mikayla 45. (Dig leaders) - Todd, Morgan 38; Thomas, Tiffany 17; Balser, Brooke 16; Shippy, Mikayla 10

Nicholls (8-16, 4-7 SLC) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Eaton, Kaci 23-0-1; Tobison, Stephanie 10-1-2; Schwartz, Kali 10-0-0; Miller, Mikayla 6-0-3; Burling, Kayla 4-0-0; Weimer, Emily 4-0-3; Barclay, Alyse 1-0-2; Marroccoli, Ainsley 0-1-0; Egea, Kalynn 0-7-0; Totals 58-9-7.0. (Assists) - Marroccoli, Ainsley 29; Barclay, Alyse 19. (Dig leaders) - Egea, Kalynn 31; Tobison, Stephanie 17; Eaton, Kaci 13; Schwartz, Kali 13

Site: Thibodaux, La. (Stopher Gym)
Date: Oct 30, 2014   Attend: 432   Time: 2:14
Referees: Scott Thompson, Rob Brecheisen