HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana volleyball team improved to .500 in Southland Conference play with a 4-set victory over in-state rival McNeese, 25-20, 25-22, 12-25, 25-19, Tuesday at the University Center.
Southeastern (5-16, 4-4 Southland) rebounded from a rough third set to put away the Cowgirls (7-16, 3-5 Southland).
The Lady Lions built an early lead in the initial set, but eventually found themselves down, 16-13, to McNeese. Service aces by
Elyssa Purcell, a redshirt freshman from Alvin, Texas, and
Macey Stock, a sophomore from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, helped even the score, 17-17.
A kill by
Chloee Holden and three-straight attack errors by the Cowgirls gave Southeastern the cushion it needed to take the first set.
Falling behind by as much as four points in the second set, the Lady Lions rallied once again.
Kills by
Rachael Bunn, a senior from San Juan Capistrano, California, and Purcell put Southeastern up, 23-22. A service ace by
Madi Odom, a senior from Kingwood, Texas, and a Cowgirl attack error finished off the set.
McNeese rebounded to take the third set, one in which the Lady Lions recorded as many errors as kills.
Southeastern turned it around in the fourth, wiping out an early deficit to win by its largest margin of the match.
Landry Bullock, a senior from Spring, Texas, joined Holden and Purcell to lead the Lady Lions with eight kills each.
Haley Baker, a sophomore from Elkton, Maryland, turned in a double-double performance with 17 assists and 10 digs. Purcell dished out another 14 assists for Southeastern.
Savannah Alcazar, a freshman from League City, Texas, had a hand in six of the Lady Lions' eight team blocks.
Monica Ramon, a sophomore from San Antonio, Texas, recorded a team-high 21 digs, while Odom contributed 14 and Stock chipped in another 11 for Southeastern.
Cowgirl Rebecca Korenek led all players with 10 kills. Alexandra Aguilera, the McNeese setter, turned in a double-double performance with 30 assists and 12 digs.
Jenny D'Alessandro had a hand in six of the Cowgirls' eight team blocks, including the only two solo blocks of the match.
Bridget Justis led all players with 26 digs, while Keegan Nelms contributed 11 more for McNeese.
Southeastern will turn around and face Incarnate Word at 6 p.m. Thursday and wrap up Homecoming Week with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 12 p.m. Saturday.
Admission to both 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.
Thursday's match against UIW (7-13, 3-5 Southland) is Faculty Appreciation Night.
Four seniors,
Landry Bullock,
Rachael Bunn,
Parrie Hartley and
Madi Odom, will be honored before Saturday's Homecoming matchup with first place A&M-Corpus Christi (13-7, 8-0 Southland).
Fans can watch both 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. McNeese 25-20, 25-22, 12-25, 25-19
McNeese (7-16, 3-5 SLC) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Korenek, Rebecca 10-0-1; Schneider, Haley 6-0-1; D'Alessandro, Jenny 5-0-6; Myers, Rae 5-2-0; Nelms, Keegan 5-0-3; Showers, Hailee 3-0-2; Elliott, Katelyn 3-0-0; Aguilera, Alexandra 1-2-1; Justis, Bridget 0-2-0; McGownd, Angela 0-1-0; Giambrone, Adison 0-1-0;
Totals 38-8-8.0. (Assists) - Aguilera, Alexandra 30.
(Dig leaders) - Justis, Bridget 26; Aguilera, Alexandra 12; Nelms, Keegan 11; McGownd, Angela 9
Southeastern La. (5-16, 4-4 SLC) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Holden, Chloee 8-0-5; Bullock, Landry 8-0-0; Purcell, Elyssa 8-2-1; Alcazar, Savannah 5-0-6; Odom, Madi 5-2-2; Bunn, Rachael 5-0-2; Baker, Haley 0-1-0; Stock, Macey 0-1-0;
Totals 39-6-8.0. (Assists) - Baker, Haley 17; Purcell, Elyssa 14.
(Dig leaders) - Ramon, Monica 21; Odom, Madi 15; Stock, Macey 11; Baker, Haley 10
