HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University volleyball team continued to rule on its home floor, moving to 10-0 inside the friendly confines of the University Center in 2022 and has now won 11 straight in Hammond after sweeping the New Orleans Privateers 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-19) Thursday night.
SLU jumped out to an early 8-3 lead in the first set as
Kailin Newsome got a kill while a Privateer player was in the net. UNO cut the deficit down to as little as two points, but Southeastern extended it out again to a peak of seven points as
Cicily Hidalgo and
Hannah Brewer blocked back a Privateer attack to give SLU a 24-17 lead. Three rallies later, Brewer combined with
Karlee Wilkerson to reject another New Orleans attack to win the set.
The second set was a more even affair as both teams traded small rallies throughout. With the set tied at 20-20, a kill by
Kailin Newsome started the final push that Southeastern needed to get to the finish line, outscoring UNO 5-1 to close out a 2-0 lead in the match as a Privateer attack went long on set point.
UNO started the third set quickly, jumping out to a 4-1 advantage and later an 8-5 lead before the Lady Lions rallied to tie things up at 8-8. After a service error gave the Privateers the lead back, a
Ryley Boyne kill tied the set up and set SLU off on a decisive 8-2 run to open a 16-11 lead off of a kill by
Cicily Hidalgo. The Lady Lions matched UNO point-for-point the rest of the way, not allowing the Privateers to string together a run to get back in the set as a
Hannah Brewer kill ended the match for the sweep.
"This was a big win for the standings," said SLU head volleyball coach
Jeremy White. "The ladies did a great job tonight of continuing the momentum we built last week. There were some huge performances by Kailin [Newsome] and Ryley [Boyne] tonight, but I really thought this was one of our more complete team wins."
Kailin Newsome had a big night, getting eight kills in the first set on her way to 16 kills in the match and just two errors on 26 total attacks for a .538 attack percentage. She also had seven digs in the contest.
Ryley Boyne was just as impressive, getting ten kills with just one error in 18 total attacks for a .500 attack percentage.
Cicily Hidalgo had eight kills, an assist, a service ace, 15 digs, and three block assists on the night.
Hannah Brewer helped form a solid wall at the net as she was credited with seven block assists in the match.
Karlee Wilkerson had seven kills and assisted on four blocks at the net.
Ansley Tullis had ten digs.
Ariana Hebert led the Lady Lions with 18 assists while
Gracie Duplechein had 17 assists.
After an error-filled performance led to a loss at New Orleans last month, the Lady Lions ended this match with just ten total attack errors and finished with an attack percentage of .328 while holding UNO to just a .172 attack percentage.
With a 10-0 record at home now secure, the Lady Lions (18-6, 8-4 SLC) now head on the road for three straight looking to turn their fortunes around in true road matches. The road redemption looks to start on Saturday down in Thibodaux as the Lions look to complete the season sweep of Nicholls State. Opening serve for the match against the Colonels (4-20, 1-11 SLC) is set for 11:00 A.M. at the David R. Stopher Gymnasium.
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.
