HAMMOND, La. – Southeastern Louisiana opens its inaugural season of NCAA beach volleyball competition this weekend in the New Orleans Invitational at Digs Volleyball Complex in Covington, Louisiana. Admission is free.
 
The Beach Lions' first dual is slated for 2 p.m. Friday against Texas A&M-Kingsville (6-1). A second dual follows later in the day at 5 p.m. against Southern Miss (1-2). Southeastern rounds out its opening weekend action at 10 a.m. Saturday against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (1-3).
 
"We have a tough opening weekend at the New Orleans Invitational that should give us a good idea of where our strengths and weaknesses are," head coach Jeremy White said. "It's going to be a great opportunity for our student-athletes to see what collegiate beach volleyball is all about. I'm very excited to see how they rise to the challenge."
 
The bulk of the team is double-rostered with indoor players, but Michelle Mirarchi and Hannah Barosh are focusing on beach along with newcomers Meagan Scuderi and Kylie Smith. Also, joining the volleyball program in time for the beach schedule is Butler transfer Serena Wagner.
 
 "The team is really excited to get this first beach season kicked off this weekend," White said. "Our girls have been performing well in training; they are chomping at the bit to get out and face someone other than themselves."

A&M-Kingsville swept through its own tournament, opening the season with wins over Ottawa, Missouri Baptist, Stephen F. Austin and Cedar Valley. This past weekend, the Javelinas sandwiched a pair of wins over Abilene Christian and Nebraska around a 4-1 loss to No. 16-ranked TCU.
 
Southern Miss dropped a pair of duals to UNO by identical 3-2 scores to open its season before following up with a 4-1 win over ULM, Feb. 24, in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
 
A&M-Corpus Christi dropped its first three duals to No. 1-ranked UCLA, Tulane and No. 2-ranked LSU last weekend before wrapping up action in the Tiger Beach Challenge with a 4-1 win over Spring Hill.
 
UP NEXT
Southeastern travels to Houston, Texas for two days of competition in the Southland Conference Showcase, March 14-15, at the Third Coast Volleyball Complex. The Beach Lions are slated to face SFA (March 14 at 10 a.m.), host Houston Baptist (March 14 at 3 p.m.), Central Arkansas (March 15 at 12 p.m.) and ACU (March 15 at 4 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 @LionUpVB or @JWhiteSLU on Twitter, @Southeastern_vb on Instagram, like /SLUathletics on Facebook and subscribe to the SLUathletics YouTube channel.