THIBODAUX, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University volleyball team officially punched its ticket to the Southland Conference Championship Tournament as the Lady Lions completed the season sweep of Nicholls State with a 3-1 (25-14, 25-18, 21-25, 25-22) win over the Colonels Saturday at the David R. Stopher Gymnasium.
Kailin Newsome picked up her second 20-kill match of the season, finishing right at 20 kills in the win and only trailing her 26-kill performance against St. John's for her season best. Her performance over the week now brings her season kills per set average above 4.0, making her the lone player in the Southland to hold that average. Newsome added an ace, a block assist, five digs, and two assists in the match.
Karlee Wilkerson had herself a day in the win, putting down 17 kills with just one error in 25 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .640 on the day. Her 17 kills are a season high and the most she's had in a single match since a 17-kill performance against then-Houston Baptist back on Oct. 9
th last year. Wilkerson also added a block assist and three digs.
Cicily Hidalgo finished with nine kills and a team high 14 digs along with two service aces and a solo block.
Ryley Boyne finished with eight kills, five digs, a solo block, and a block assist.
Gracie Duplechein had 27 assists, a service ace, and eight digs.
Ariana Hebert finished with 23 assists and two aces.
Ansley Tullis had 12 digs and five assists.
Kibi Huggins had a block solo while
Crispin Adams had two block assists.
Now with their ticket to the Southland Conference Tournament officially punched, the Lady Lions (19-6, 9-4 SLC) continue their quest for a regular season title on Tuesday. Currently sitting just one game back of the leaders in the standings, SLU heads to Natchitoches looking for a second straight road win and a continuing exorcism of their road demons on this three-match road trip against Northwestern State. First serve of Tuesday's match against the Lady Demons (13-11, 6-7 SLC) is set for 6:30 P.M. at Prather Coliseum and will be streamed on ESPN+.
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.
