NEW ORLEANS – Southeastern Louisiana fought off a tough Tulane squad in five sets, 21-25, 25-23, 20-25, 30-28, 15-12, Tuesday at Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse, earning its first win of the season.
 
Southeastern (1-3) handed head coach Jeremy White his first win at the helm of the program and saddled the Green Wave (3-1), a team that finished 2018 with a 29-9 record on the way to winning the National Invitational Volleyball Championship, with their first loss of the season.
 
"The biggest thing is we finally bought in, not only on what we're trying to teach but also the culture," White said. "They played really hard for each other. There was a lot of heart and hustle tonight. Even when we got down, we didn't stay down for long. I'm so proud of how we fought through it."
 
The opening set was back-and-forth early with neither team able to gain more than a one-point advantage until Tulane went up 12-10. Southeastern bounced back to regain the lead, 16-15, after Jodi Edo recorded a kill on an errant Green Wave pass at the net. Tulane took back the lead for good, 19-18, eventually scoring the final three points in the set.
 
After another back-and-forth start in the second set, the Green Wave rolled off five-consecutive points to take a 9-5 lead. A Ryan Maddera kill snapped the string, but a service error gave Tulane another point. Southeastern responded by scoring five-straight and nine of the next 11 points for a 15-12 advantage.
 
The Green Wave would pull within one, but Southeastern expanded its lead to four, 23-19, before finishing off the set to even the match.
 
Falling behind by four, 11-7, the Lady Lions came roaring back to tie the third set, 16-16, on a Sam Gomez kill. Tulane once again expanded its lead to four, 21-17, before wrapping up the set to regain a one-set advantage in the match.
 
Once again falling behind by multiple points in the fourth, 7-4, a resilient Southeastern squad scored eight of the next 10 points to take a 12-9 lead. The Lady Lions extended their advantage to four, 21-17, before Tulane fought back for a 26-25 lead. Kills by Edo and Maddera eventually put Southeastern back up, 28-27. After the Green Wave tied it, 28-28, a pair of Tulane errors evened up the match once again.
 
Four-consecutive points pushed Southeastern to an early, 6-3 lead in the fifth and deciding set. The Green Wave came charging back, claiming an 11-10 lead before Southeastern scored five of the final six points in the match.
 
The Lady Lions posted a season-best .230 attack percentage and Karlee Wilkerson recorded a career-high 18 kills. Edo and Gomez contributed 14 kills apiece to the winning side. Freshmen Baylee Laskoskie (30 assists, 10 digs) and Ariana Hebert (23 assists, 10 digs) both turned in double-doubles while splitting the setting duties.
 
Edo and Gomez each had a hand in five of Southeastern's 10 team blocks. Alexis Pratt, one of five Lady Lions to reach double-digit digs, posted a team-high 19. Caroline Golden (17) and Jolie Hidalgo (13) also contributed double-digit dig totals.
 
UP NEXT
Southeastern returns to the road this coming weekend, facing SIU-Edwardsville, Alabama A&M and host Southern Illinois at the Saluki Bash in Carbondale, Illinois. The Lady Lions face a pair of matches Friday, going up against SIUE at 10 a.m. and Alabama A&M at 5 p.m. Southeastern wraps up the tournament Saturday against host Southern Illinois at 1:30 p.m.
 
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 @SLU_VBall or @JWhiteSLU on Twitter, @Southeastern_vb on Instagram, like /SLUathletics on Facebook and subscribe to the SLUathletics YouTube channel.