NATCHITOCHES, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University volleyball team had to go the long route to get its historic 20
th win of the 2022 season, and equally-historic tenth win in Southland Conference play, rallying back from down two sets to upend the Northwestern State Lady Demons 3-2 (23-25, 17-25, 25-8, 25-19, 15-12) Tuesday night at Prather Coliseum.
After dropping the first two sets, it was a dominant third set which set the stage for the comeback. With SLU down 2-1 in the third set, a Lady Demon attack error started a six-point run for the Lady Lions to open the score as
Karlee Wilkerson and
Hannah Brewer combined on a block to make it 7-2 Southeastern before NSU slowed the onslaught for a moment by getting the next point. But that was only temporary as the Lady Lions scored the next four, capped by a
Jolie Hidalgo service ace which gave SLU a 16-4 lead. Southeastern outscored Northwestern State 8-4 the rest of the way to cap a 25-8 set result with set point being scored on a Lady Demon attack error.
Looking to force a decisive fifth set, a
Crispin Adams block started a six-point Lady Lion run that saw the lead balloon to 13-6 after a NSU set error. However, the Lady Demons scored the next five to lower the deficit down to two points before a kill by Adams got SLU back on track. Southeastern scored eight of the next 12 points to open up a 21-15 lead following a
Kailin Newsome kill. A
Cicily Hidalgo block on set point forced the decisive fifth set.
With the decisive set tied at 9-9,
Gracie Duplechein caught the Lady Demons out of position with a setter attack which fell for a Southeastern point, the point that put SLU up for good.
Hannah Brewer and
Karlee Wilkerson combined for a block right after that, then Brewer scored a kill to put the Lady Lions up 12-9. NSU rallied back to make it 13-12 Lady Lions, but a
Kailin Newsome kill put SLU on match point and a Lady Demon attack went long for Southeastern's match-clinching point.
Kailin Newsome,
Cicily Hidalgo, and
Gracie Duplechein all scored double-doubles in the win. Newsome had match-high 18 kills and team-high 21 digs for her 11
th double-double of the season. Newsome also had two service aces and a block assist. Hidalgo got her eighth double-double of the season with 13 kills and 13 digs along with a solo block.
Gracie Duplechein had 31 assists and 21 digs for her sixth double-double of the season as well as a pair of kills and a block assist.
Hannah Brewer and
Karlee Wilkerson were a force at the net with Brewer collected two solo blocks and four assisted blocks while Wilkerson had three assisted blocks and a solo block. Brewer also had a pair of service aces.
Neither team hit well overall as SLU hit for a .146 attack percentage while NSU hit for .089, but the Lady Lions ended with 58 kills as a team while the Lady Demons had 48 kills. Southeastern also scored 13 points off the serve thanks to six service aces and seven service errors from NSU while the Lady Demons scored nine points from the serve with four aces and five SLU errors.
The Lady Lions (20-6, 10-4 SLC) hit the 20-win mark for the first time since 1996 while at the same time scored their tenth win in conference play for the first time since the 2002 season. SLU has also tied their season long win streak, having now won five matches in a row which they also did to open the season. They look to extend that win streak to six on Thursday night in Beaumont, Texas as the Lady Lions look to complete the season sweep of Lamar. Opening serve of Thursday's match against the Cardinals (8-17, 2-12 SLC) is set for 6:00 P.M. at McDonald Gym.
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.
