NATCHITOCHES, La. – Southeastern Louisiana earned a hard-fought Southland Conference win over second place Northwestern State in five sets Saturday, 25-19, 20-25, 20-25, 27-25, 15-12, in Prather Coliseum.
The Lady Lions (4-16, 3-4 Southland) improved offensively throughout the match, except for a rough second set. Southeastern turned in attack percentages of .184, .111, .206, .209 and .500 against Northwestern State (11-13, 6-3 Southland).
Elyssa Purcell, a redshirt freshman from Alvin, Texas, helped the Lady Lions earn some separation late in the first set, serving up back-to-back aces, to give Southeastern a 21-17 lead.
Northwestern State earned some separation in the next two sets, going up by as much as seven points in both the second and third.
The Lady Demons jumped out to a large lead in the fourth set, 13-4, well on their way to claiming the match, but Southeastern started clawing back.
Rallying to tie the set, 20-20, the Lady Lions fell back down by two points before a kill by
Rachael Bunn, a senior from San Juan Capistrano, California, and back-to-back kills by
Landry Bullock, a senior from Spring, Texas, put them on top for the first time, 24-23.
Another kill by Bullock, who recorded a career-high 21 in the contest, sent the match to a deciding fifth set.
Madi Odom, a senior from Kingwood, Texas, recorded five kills to pace the Lady Lions in an offense-oriented fifth set.
In the match, Odom (12) and Bunn (11) joined Bullock with double-figure kills.
Haley Baker (28 assists, 11 digs), a sophomore from Elkton Maryland, Purcell (26 assists, 17 digs) and Odom (20 digs) all turned in double-double performances for the Lady Lions.
Savannah Alcazar, a freshman from League City, Texas, had a hand in seven of Southeastern's season-high 11 team blocks.
Monica Ramon (19), a sophomore from San Antonio, Texas, and
Macey Stock (10), a sophomore from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, joined Odom, Purcell and Baker with double-figure dig totals.
Northwestern State's Alexis Warren led all players with 22 kills, turning in a double-double with 18 digs. Reagan Rogers (11) and Madeline Drake (10) joined her with double-digit kills.
Lady Demon setter Natalie Jaeger also turned in a double-double performance, dishing out a match-high 52 assists to go with 11 digs.
Kourtney Seaton, who contributed eight kills, had a hand in six of Northwestern State's nine team blocks.
Channing Burleson led the Lady Demons with 20 digs, while Bailey Martin posted another 10 digs.
Southeastern returns to the University Center for three-consecutive conference matches this coming week, Tuesday at 7 p.m. against McNeese for Smoot Fever Night, Thursday at 6 p.m. against UIW prior to the Homecoming bonfire and Saturday at 12 p.m. against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi for Senior Day.
Tuesday, fans are encouraged to come dressed in their best Coach Smoot-inspired Hawaiian attire and get tropical for this mid-week match. Special prizes will be given out for the winner of the Tropical Obstacle.
Admission to all volleyball matches is free. Fans should enter the arena upstairs at Gate 3. Volleyball posters and magnet schedules will be available in the Fan Zone, and students can earn points toward their LionUp Loyalty account by checking in on the app while in attendance.
Fans can watch all three matches live on LionVision, Southeastern's subscription-based video stream, or follow live statistics. Links for stats, video and promotions info are available on the volleyball schedule page at www.LionSports.net.
Southeastern La. def. Northwestern State 25-19, 20-25, 20-25, 27-25, 15-12
Southeastern La. (4-16, 3-4) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Bullock, Landry 21-0-3; Odom, Madi 12-0-1; Bunn, Rachael 11-1-3; Holden, Chloee 7-0-5; Alcazar, Savannah 6-0-7; Hartley, Parrie 5-0-3; Purcell, Elyssa 3-3-0; Baker, Haley 1-0-0; Ramon, Monica 0-1-0;
Totals 66-5-11.0. (Assists) - Baker, Haley 28; Purcell, Elyssa 26. (Dig leaders) - Odom, Madi 20; Ramon, Monica 19; Purcell, Elyssa 17; Baker, Haley 11; Stock, Macey 10
Northwestern State (11-13, 6-3) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Warren, Alexis 22-1-3; Rogers, Reagan 11-0-2; Drake, Madeline 10-0-2; Seaton, Kourtney 8-0-6; Gardea, Abby 3-0-2; Jaeger, Natalie 3-1-0; Harris, Victoria 1-0-0; Agan, Lauren 1-0-0; Lohmiller, Megan 0-2-0; Martin, Bailey 0-3-0;
Totals 59-7-9.0. (Assists) - Jaeger, Natalie 52.
(Dig leaders) - Burleson, Channing 20; Warren, Alexis 18; Jaeger, Natalie 11; Martin, Bailey 10; Lohmiller, Megan 9
Site: Natchitoches, La. (Prather Coliseum)
Date: Oct 15, 2016
Attend: 175
Time: 2:19
Referees: Brian Hernleagarn, David Plaisance
