HARRISONBURG, Va. – After picking up a win over Southern in its home opener earlier this week, the Southeastern Louisiana volleyball team returns to the road with three matches Friday and Saturday at the JMU Invitational.
The Lady Lions (2-2) face George Washington (3-0) at 4 p.m. Friday. Southeastern will match up with host James Madison (2-2) at 11:30 a.m. Saturday and Hampton (3-1) later that day at 4 p.m. All matches in the tournament will be played at the Dukes' Sinclair Gymnasium.
Live stats will be available for all matches during the tournament, courtesy James Madison, and links can be found on the volleyball schedule page at www.LionSports.net.
Southeastern quickly dispatched of Southern, 25-4, 25-23, 25-9, for a three-set win this past Tuesday at the University Center. The Lady Lions were led by sophomore
Parrie Hartley, who recorded the first double-double of her career with 16 kills and 13 digs. As a team, Southeastern posted a .354 attack percentage and held the Lady Jaguars to .010 on the attack.
Hartley (3.79 kills per set),
Tiffany Thomas (2.56 k/set),
Elizabeth Ramee (1.91 k/set),
Sarah Friedman (1.91 k/set),
Veronica Turk (1.85 k/set) and
Mikayla Shippy (10.36 assists per set) pace the Lady Lions' offensive attack.
Morgan Todd (4.64 digs per set),
Brooke Balser (2.58 d/set), Ramee (2.18 d/set) and Turk (12 total blocks) are key cogs in the Southeastern defense.
GWU has yet to lose a set in 2014. The Colonials swept Arkansas State, Auburn and North Dakota this past weekend in the George Washington Invitational.
Kelsey Newman (4.33 k/set), Chidima Osuchukwu (4.00 k/set), Loren Williams (3.89 k/set) and Jordan Timmer (13.44 a/set) key the Colonial attack. Maddy Doyle (6.44 d/set) and Newman (4.33 d/set) anchor a back row that is averaging 22 digs per set.
The Dukes dropped a four-set match this past Tuesday to Liberty. JMU's offense revolves around Janey Goodman (4.07 k/set), Lizzy Briones (2.79 k/set), MacKenzie Kleespies (2.00 k/set) and Sarah Patterson (6.50 a/set).
Briones is also a defensive force at the net, recording 27 total blocks (1.93 per set). Taylor Austin (4.07 d/set) and Kleespies (4.00 d/set) are the major defenders on the back row.
After taking all three of its matches at the DePaul Invitational, Hampton dropped a three-set contest to William & Mary this past Tuesday.
The Lady Pirates are led by Vendula Strakova (5.80 k/set), the American Volleyball Coaches Association's reigning National Player of the Week. Krista Kraskura (3.93 k/set), Sonja Maksimovic (2.53 k/set) and Kitija Megne (12.53 a/set) lend a helping hand on offense. Kraskura (3.47 d/set) and Allysa Medina (2.80 d/set) anchor the back row.
Southeastern returns to action Thursday at 7 p.m. against host Tulane in the AllState Sugar Bowl Collegiate Classic.
