HAMMOND, La. – With just three weeks remaining in the regular season, the Southeastern Louisiana University volleyball team looks to keep one streak intact while ending another as the battle for the top of the Southland heats up with New Orleans coming to town while the Lady Lions head to Nicholls this weekend.
 
Coming off of her third Southland Conference Offensive Player of the Week award of the season following a week where she averaged more 4 kills per set in two big SLU wins, Kailin Newsome leads not just Southeastern, but the entire Southland Conference on offense by averaging 3.93 kills per set. Cicily Hidalgo, who is returning to form after missing several matches due to injury, is still on Newsome's heels by averaging 3.69 kills per set this season.
 
Thursday night, the Lady Lions (17-6, 7-4 SLC) put their 9-0 home record on the line while looking to avenge an earlier sweep at the hands of New Orleans when the Privateers (13-10, 7-4 SLC) come to Hammond for a battle of two of the three teams currently tied for third in the SLC standings, just one game off the conference lead.
 
Southeastern will look to cut back on the number of errors which plagued the Lady Lions in the earlier loss to UNO as SLU committed 22 attack errors and 12 service errors in that Sept. 29^th defeat.
 
Sophia Ewalefo leads the Privateer regulars, averaging 2.85 kills per set this season while Kristi Gomez averages 2.53 kills per set.
 
On Saturday, the Lady Lions look to end a three-match skid away from the University Center, and improve on a 1-6 record in true road matches, as Southeastern heads to Thibodaux looking to complete the season sweep of Nicholls. SLU swept the Colonels (4-19, 1-10 SLC) in the University Center back on Oct. 1^st as six different Lady Lions collected six or more kills in that match, including Addie Vidrine who filled up the box score with eight kills, five service aces, and ten digs.
 
Katie Jones leads the Colonels with 2.34 kills per set while Trinity Vinzant tallies 2.26 kills per set and Devon Bright averages 2.24.
 
Opening serve of Thursday's home match against New Orleans is set for 6:30 P.M. in the University Center and will be streamed on ESPN+ while Saturday's match against Nicholls is set for 11:00 A.M. at the David R. Stopher Gymnsium and will not be streamed.
 
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, @LionUpVB on Instagram, like /SLUathletics on Facebook and subscribe to the SLUathletics YouTube channel.