HAMMOND, La. – No. 7-seeded Southeastern Louisiana faces No. 2-seeded Sam Houston State at 11 a.m. Friday in the opening match of the 2019 Southland Conference Tournament at the Farris Center in Conway, Arkansas. The contest is a rematch of both teams' regular-season finale.
 
Returning to the conference tournament for the first time in three seasons, Southeastern (14-16, 8-8 Southland) wrapped up the regular season with the third-largest year-to-year improvement in the nation. A 12-win improvement over 2018 trails only Milwaukee (16), Central Michigan (14) and Robert Morris (14).
 
The Lady Lions dropped both matches they played this season against Sam Houston State (16-12, 12-4 Southland), including an intense five-setter this past Saturday in Hammond.
 
The Southland Digital Network will offer a free video stream of all matches Friday and Saturday. Tune in online at www.Southland.org/live or the Southland Conference app for Android or iOS devices. The app is also available on smart TV devices (e.g., Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Android TV and Roku).
 
Links for live stats and video are available on the volleyball schedule page at www.LionSports.net.
 
The single-elimination conference tournament runs Friday through Sunday on the campus of Southland-member institution Central Arkansas. For more information on the tournament, visit www.LionSports.net/SLCvb.
 
A win Friday would send Southeastern to Saturday's 12 p.m. semifinals. The championship match is set for Sunday at 3:05 p.m. with an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament on the line.
 
NOTEWORTHY

• Jodi Edo leads the Southland in solo blocks (37) while also ranking second in attack percentage (.336), fourth in total blocks (112) and fifth in total points (396.5). Her attack percentage is the best in school single-season history and solo blocks rank 10th. She also ranks ninth on the program's career solo blocks (53) list.
• Edo (2.92 k/set), Caroline Golden (2.71 k/set) and Sam Gomez (2.23 k/set) are Southeastern's top attackers.
• Baylee Laskoskie ranks third in the Southland in total assists (966) and fourth with 9.25 assists per set. She is 34 away from becoming just the sixth player in program history to hand out at least 1,000 assists in a single season.
• Golden, a junior from Mandeville, Louisiana, ranks third in total service aces (39) and sixth in aces per set (0.35 sa/set).
• Alexis Pratt (2.97 d/set), Lizzy Low (2.88 d/set), Golden (2.52 d/set) and Jolie Hidalgo (2.33 d/set) represent the Lady Lions' top defenders along the back line.
• Against conference competition, the Lady Lions have allowed the second-fewest kills (12.06 k/set) and the fourth-lowest opponent attack percentage (.186).

 
LAST MATCH
Despite a gritty rally, Southeastern Louisiana dropped its Senior Day match to Sam Houston State in five sets Saturday, 25-19, 25-22, 23-25, 25-27, 15-12, in Southland Conference action at the University Center.
 
Edo led Southeastern with 14 kills and six total blocks. Junior outside hitter Ryan Maddera added 13 kills, reaching double figures for the fourth time this season. Gomez chipped in another 11 kills and five total blocks for the Lady Lions. Laskoskie handed out 32 assists. Ariana Hebert dished out another 14 for the Lady Lions and libero Lizzy Low added an additional eight assists.
 
Low, a freshman from Lafayette, Louisiana, led Southeastern with 18 digs. Pratt (15) and Golden (14) also contributed double-digit dig totals.
 
DIGGIN' IT CLUB / S CLUB
Fans interested in becoming active supporters of the Southeastern volleyball program are encouraged to join the Diggin' It Club. Lion volleyball alums are encouraged to join the exclusive S Club, which is restricted to Southeastern athletic letter winners.
 
All membership fees and donations to both the Diggin' It Club and S Club (volleyball) are available for the exclusive use of the Southeastern volleyball program. Membership information is available by contacting the Lion Athletics Association at laa@southeastern.edu or (985) 549-5091 or visiting www.LionUp.com.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Lady Lions Volleyball, follow @LionUpVB or @JWhiteSLU on Twitter, @Southeastern_vb on Instagram, like /SLUathletics on Facebook and subscribe to the SLUathletics YouTube channel.
 
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Friday, November 22, 2019
11:00 AM - Match 1 - No. 2 Sam Houston State vs. No. 7 Southeastern Louisiana
1:30 PM - Match 2 - No. 3 Northwestern State vs. No. 6 Houston Baptist
4:00 PM - Match 3 - No. 1 Stephen F. Austin vs. No. 8 New Orleans
6:30 PM - Match 4 - No. 4 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi vs. No. 5 Central Arkansas
   
Saturday, November 23, 2019
12:00 PM - Match 5 - Match 1 Winner vs. Match 2 Winner
2:30 PM - Match 6 - Match 3 Winner vs. Match 4 Winner
   
Sunday, November 24, 2019
3:05 PM - Match 7 - Match 5 Winner vs. Match 6 Winner