COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Southeastern Louisiana volleyball squad earned its first win of the season Saturday, splitting a pair of matches on the final day at the Gamecock Invitational presented by Hyatt Place. Southeastern dropped its first match of the day to North Carolina State, 25-17, 25-17, 25-19, before wrapping up the day with a sweep of North Carolina Central, 25-21, 25-21, 25-15.

Junior Landry Bullock paced the Lady Lion (1-2) offense in both matches, recording a season-high 16 kills in the win over N.C. Central (0-3). Southeastern hit .236 as a team against the Lady Eagles, pounding out 43 kills in the three-set match.

For her efforts over the course of Southeastern's three matches Bullock was named to the all-tournament team, joining Dessaa Legros (South Carolina), Maggie Speaks (N.C. State), Casey Curran (N.C. Central) and MVP Julia Brown of N.C. State.

The Lady Lions went 1-2 in the tournament, dropping their season-opener to host South Carolina, 3-0, on Friday. It was the first time in school history Southeastern faced any of the three schools on the volleyball court.

Southeastern travels Tuesday to Southern Miss before returning to the University Center to host Eastern Washington (Sept. 6) and Troy (Sept. 7) in a pair of Labor Day weekend matches.


Match One – N.C. State 3, Southeastern Louisiana 0
The Lady Lions led for the majority of the first set, building up a five-point advantage. A Madi Odom kill gave Southeastern an 11-6 lead and carried it to a 16-12 advantage on a service ace from Tiffany Thomas. But N.C. State went on a 10-0 run off the strength of Kassie Kasper's serving and three of the team's six blocks in the set.

Carrying the momentum into the final two sets, the stingy Wolfpack (2-0) defense shut down Southeastern's comeback attempts.

Bullock led the Lady Lions with seven kills. Freshman Haley Baker dished out a team-high eight assists. Senior Brooke Balser recorded a match-high eight digs.

Julia Brown posted nine kills to pace the Wolfpack. Maggie Speaks handed out 32 assists. Megan Cormier and and Emily Harris turned in six digs apiece. Kaitlyn Kearney had a hand in seven of N.C. State's 12 team blocks.

NC State def. Southeastern La. 25-17, 25-17, 25-19
NC State (2-0) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Brown, Julia 9-0-4; Ramsey, Perry 7-3-1; Hranicka, Blayke 7-0-5; Kearney, Kaitlyn 6-0-7; Speaks, Maggie 3-1-5; Cormier, Morgan 3-3-0; Konchan, Sarah 2-1-1; Kasper, Kassie 0-1-0; Totals 37-9-12.0. (Assists) – Speaks, Maggie 32. (Dig leaders) – Cormier, Morgan 6; Harris, Emily 6

Southeastern La. (0-2) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Bullock, Landry 7-0-0; Odom, Madi 4-0-1; Thomas, Tiffany 3-2-2; Hartley, Parrie 1-0-0; Baker, Haley 1-0-0; Turk, Veronica 1-0-0; Shippy, Mikayla 1-0-1; Devlin, Shelby 0-3-2; Bunn, Rachael 0-0-1; Stock, Macey 0-1-0; Ramon, Monica 0-1-0; Totals 18-7-4.0. (Assists) – Baker, Haley 8; Shippy, Mikayla 7. (Dig leaders) - Balser, Brooke 8; Ramon, Monica 5

Site: Columbia,S.C. (Carolina VB Center)
Date: Aug 29, 2015   Attend: 103   Time: 1:09
Referees: Leisa Gordon, Michael Gale


Match Two – Southeastern Louisiana 3, North Carolina Central 0
The Lady Lion offense turned in a .281 attack percentage on the way to claiming its first set of the season. Bullock led four players with multiple kills in the set as Southeastern never trailed.

Falling behind 9-3 in the second set, the Lady Lions rallied to tie the score, 15-15, before taking the lead on a Rachael Bunn service ace. A kill by Odom extended the lead to 17-15 and Southeastern had the momentum it needed to finish off the set.

Rallying again in the third and final set, the Lady Lions closed out the match on a 22-8 run with a kill by Odom to finish off N.C. Central.

Bullock led all players with 16 kills while Odom and Veronica Turk each contributed eight to the offensive attack. Shippy dished out 36 assists for a season-best 12.00 assists per set average. Freshman Monica Ramon (11 digs) and Odom (10 digs) each recorded double-digit digs for the Lady Lions.

Kelsey Murphy (12 kills), Casey Curran (16 assists) and Tamika Brekke (14 digs) were the statistical leaders for N.C. Central.

Southeastern La. def. N.C. Central 25-21, 25-21, 25-15
Southeastern La. (1-2) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Bullock, Landry 16-0-0; Turk, Veronica 8-0-2; Odom, Madi 8-4-1; Shippy, Mikayla 4-1-1; Thomas, Tiffany 4-4-1; Bunn, Rachael 2-1-1; Balser, Brooke 1-1-0; Ramon, Monica 0-2-0; Totals 43-13-3.0. (Assists) - Shippy, Mikayla 36. (Dig leaders) - Ramon, Monica 11; Odom, Madi 10; Balser, Brooke 8

N.C. Central (0-3) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Murphy, Kelsey 12-1-0; Sumner, Sydney 7-0-1; Rossip, Kelly 5-0-3; White, Whitney 3-0-2; Curran, Casey 0-0-1; Simmons, Bree 0-1-0; Richardson, Sydney 0-0-2; Totals 27-2-5.0. (Assists) – Curran, Casey 16. (Dig leaders) – Brekke, Tamika 14; Murphy, Kelsey 9

Site: Columbia, S.C. (Carolina VB Center)
Date: Aug 29, 2015   Attend: 79   Time: 1:13
Referees: Leisa Gordon, Kelly Peterson