HAMMOND, La. – Southeastern Louisiana threw up a brick wall Thursday against in-state rival McNeese, taking straight sets, 27-25, 25-17, 25-18, at the University Center to pick up its first Southland Conference win of the season.
 
The match looked to be in doubt early as the Lady Lions (6-9, 1-1 Southland) found themselves staring at a five-point deficit, 19-14, when first-year head coach Jeremy White called his second and final timeout of the initial set.
 
"We talked about being good teammates and communicating at a high level," White said. "We needed to get back to doing the things that were effective for us defensively and serving tough, getting them back out of their system."
 
Southeastern responded by scoring seven of the next eight points, taking a 21-20 lead on a block by Jodi Edo and Karlee Wilkerson. The Cowgirls (7-6, 0-1 Southland) bounced back to tie it, alternating back and forth with the lead until back-to-back kills by Sam Gomez finished it off. The first set contained 13 ties and five lead changes, more than the rest of the match combined.
 
The Lady Lions rode the momentum into the second set, racing out to an 11-3 lead. McNeese cut that lead in half, 12-8, before a kill, and then service ace, from Caroline Golden put a stop to the Cowgirl rally. Another ace by Golden and a block from Gomez and Baylee Laskoskie wrapped up a two-set advantage.
 
In the final set, Southeastern's play at the net dominated. The Lady Lions recorded six team blocks, almost doubling their total to that point in the match.
 
"The things we had planned for McNeese were very effective," White said. "The blocking situation was working great for us because we were taking away their favorite shots on both pins. That led us into taking care of their middles as well."
 
With a season-high 13 total blocks, the Lady Lions reached double digits for the third time in 2019 and posted their most blocks as a team since Oct. 6, 2015, when they recorded 16 at McNeese.
 
Edo, a senior from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Wilkerson, a sophomore from Springfield, Louisiana, each had a hand in on six of the Lady Lions' 13 blocks. Wilkerson and Gomez, a junior from Mandeville, Louisiana, both provided a pair of solo blocks.
 
Jolie Hidalgo, a freshman from Lafayette, Louisiana, recorded a career-high 13 kills on the way to her first collegiate double-double (10 digs). Edo added another 10 kills to the Southeastern offensive attack. Laskoskie, a freshman from Spring, Texas, dished out 33 assists.
 
Golden, a junior from Mandeville, served up three aces and Alexis Pratt, a junior from Houston, Texas, picked up a match-high 11 digs.
 
With the win, Southeastern is now .500 overall in its last 12 matches and reaches the midpoint of the season with more total victories than the last two seasons combined.
 
"I'm really proud of our players," White said. "The buy-in has been slower than I had hoped, but they are buying in. The more they do that, the better we're going to be. We have a great group of girls. They work hard in practice and they're starting to come together as a team."
 
UP NEXT
Southeastern Louisiana returns to the University Center floor Saturday, hosting Lamar in a Southland match at 1 p.m. Admission is free. Fans are asked to enter the arena upstairs at Gate 3. Lady Lion volleyball posters and magnet schedules will be available in the Fan Zone.
 
The new Southeastern Sports Network will offer a free video stream of each Southeastern match this week. Tune in online at www.LionSports.net or the Lions' Gameday Experience app for Android or iOS devices. Fans can also watch on Southeastern's YouTube channel (/SLUathletics) with any mobile, tablet or smart TV device (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.
 
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.