HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana volleyball team swept past Lamar in convincing fashion, 25-13, 25-20, 25-18, in a Southland Conference match Saturday at the University Center.
Bolstered by Senior Day, Alumni Day and Hall of Fame activities, Southeastern (12-16, 6-8 Southland) snapped a three-match losing streak and clinched a spot in the Southland Conference Volleyball Tournament to be held Nov. 20-22 in Conway, Arkansas.
Prior to the match the five members of the senior class,
Brooke Balser,
Shelby Devlin,
Mikayla Shippy,
Tiffany Thomas and
Veronica Turk were honored.
The Lady Lions never trailed in either of the first two sets.
Southeastern jumped out to a commanding lead early in the first, 6-2, on a kill by
Landry Bullock. The Cardinals closed within three, 12-9, on a Southeastern attack error, but the Lady Lions embarked on a 13-4 run to finish out the set.
Lamar (13-15, 3-11 Southland) kept the second set tighter until a kill by Shippy and a Cardinal attack error put Southeastern up by six, 18-12. Fighting back, Lamar cut the lead in half, 23-20, but the Cardinals were caught out of rotation setting up set point.
On the ensuing attack, Turk and
Parrie Hartley combined on a block to put the Lady Lions up two sets to none.
The Cardinals led twice in the final set, but never by more than two points. A kill by Bullock and then back-to-back kills by
Sarah Friedman put Southeastern back up, 15-14. The Lady Lions pulled away down the stretch, capping off the match with a service ace from Turk.
Bullock, a junior from Spring, Texas, led all players with 15 kills and Friedman, a sophomore from Houston, Texas, added 10 more for the Lady Lions. Shippy, who is fourth on Southeastern's all-time assists list, handed out a match-high 34 assists.
Monica Ramon, a freshman from San Antonio, Texas, led all players with 11 digs.
Turk, with one solo block and three block assists, moved solidly into the Top 10 of all three career blocking categories at Southeastern. She is tied with Jennifer Jones for 10th in solo blocks (40) while sitting eighth in block assists (211) and ninth in total blocks (251).
Cortney Moore's six kills led the Cardinals' offensive attack. Haley Morton (15 assists) and Ashley Ellis (nine assists) split the setting duties. Erin Pequeno's eight digs topped the Lamar statistical charts for the match.
Saturday's Alumni Day festivities, held in conjunction with the Hall of Fame ceremonies, brought back several former players that were honored on the court between the second and third sets.
Following the match, former Lady Lion volleyball player Denise Kubena Wyninger was honored at the annual Hall of Fame program in the Hall of Champions, located on the University Center's main concourse. She, along with former softball player Rachel Ray Fitzgerald, were set to be officially inducted into the Southeastern Athletics Hall of Fame at halftime of Saturday's football game against Incarnate Word in Strawberry Stadium.
Southeastern faces its final action of the regular season this coming week with matches Tuesday at Nicholls and Thursday at home against Central Arkansas.
Southeastern La. def. Lamar 25-13, 25-20, 25-18
Lamar (13-15, 3-11 SLC) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Moore, Cortney 6-0-2; Grant, Chelsea 5-0-3; Taylor, Autumn 4-1-0; Hollowell, Amy 3-0-0; Stella, Carlyn 3-0-0; Parish, Nicole 2-1-0; Hlavac, Murielle 2-0-1; Morton, Haley 1-0-0; Ellis, Ashley 0-0-1;
Totals 26-2-5.0. (Assists) - Morton, Haley 15.
(Dig leaders) - Pequeno, Erin 8; Ellis, Ashley 3
Southeastern La. (12-16, 6-8 SLC) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Bullock, Landry 15-1-0; Friedman, Sarah 10-0-1; Hartley, Parrie 7-0-2; Turk, Veronica 5-2-4; Shippy, Mikayla 4-0-2; Bunn, Rachael 3-0-2; Odom, Madi 0-1-0; Ramon, Monica 0-1-0;
Totals 44-5-6.0. (Assists) – Shippy, Mikayla 34.
(Dig leaders) - Ramon, Monica 11; Balser, Brooke 9; Odom, Madi 9
Site: Hammond, La. (University Center)
Date: Nov 07, 2015
Attend: 200
Time: 1:31
Referees: Doug Couvillon, Donalda Abadie
