BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Southeastern Louisiana volleyball team opens the 2017 season Friday in the Courtyard by Marriott Invitational, hosted by Samford at the Pete Hanna Center.
 
Southeastern faces Samford at 12:30 p.m. Friday and then turns around later in the day to play again, matching up against Murray State at 4:30 p.m. The Lady Lions wrap up their weekend action Saturday at 1 p.m. against Ohio.
 
Live stats are available for every match in the four team, round-robin event. Streaming video of all three Samford matches, including Southeastern's season opener, is available on the SoCon Digital Network. Links for stats and video can be found on the volleyball schedule page at www.LionSports.net.
 
The Lady Lions begin their fifth season under head coach Jim Smoot and have advanced to the Southland Conference Tournament each of the past three years. Coming off a 7-23 (6-10 Southland) record in 2016, Southeastern is led by sophomore Elyssa Purcell. The native of Alvin, Texas, earned all-conference honors last season after leading the nation in triple-doubles.
 
NOTES

• Southeastern returns just six players off last season's squad, including juniors Haley Baker and Macey Stock. The other returning letterwinners are sophomores Savannah Alcazar, Jodi Edo, Chloee Holden and Purcell. There are no seniors on the team this season.
• The Lady Lions welcome eight newcomers, including seven freshmen, to the squad. The lone upperclassman joining the team is transfer Lexie Torres, a junior defensive specialist from San Antonio, Texas. She played the last two seasons at Hill College.
• Purcell, who led the nation in triple-doubles last season, shifts to a full-time attack role. Despite splitting time at the setting position in 2016, she still finished third on the team with 1.78 kills per set. She led all players with 15 kills in Tuesday's annual Green & Gold match.
• Baker (35 assists, 10 digs), Holden (10 kills, 17 digs) and freshman Michelle Mirarchi (30 assists, 12 digs) all recorded double-doubles in the Green & Gold match.

 
OPPONENTS
Samford: Picked to finish third in the Southern Conference preseason poll after a compiling a 21-14 (9-7 Southern) record … advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2016 for the third time in six seasons … ranked 10th in the nation in kills (1,693) and 14th in assists (1,570) … Kelsi Hobbs (2.14 kills per set, 0.77 blocks per set), who earned Southern Conference All-Freshman honors last season, is the Bulldogs' leading returner.
 
Murray State: Three-time defending Ohio Valley Conference regular season champ … advanced to the NCAA Tournament last season for the second time in three years … picked to finish fourth in the OVC preseason poll despite 23-9 (15-1 OVC) record last year … despite several key losses off last season's squad, the Racers return a pair of players in Dacia Brown (1.81 kills per set, 0.52 blocks per set) and Olivia Chatman (1.29 kills per set, 0.51 blocks per set) who have been part of 76 wins over the last three years.
 
Ohio: Picked to finish second in the East Division in the Mid-American Conference preseason poll after compiling a 16-14 (11-5 MAC) record in 2016 … the Bobcats are led by preseason all-conference selections Jamie Kosiorek (3.21 kills per set, 31 service aces), a senior outside hitter, and Ali Lake (2.69 kills per set, 0.46 blocks per set), a senior middle blocker.
 
UP NEXT
Following the weekend tournament at Samford, the Lady Lions return to action Sept. 1-2 at the BGSU / UT Invitational, playing matches in both Toledo, Ohio, and Bowling Green, Ohio.
 
For more on Southeastern volleyball, visit LionSports.net and follow both @sluathletics and @southeastern_vb on Twitter.