LAKE CHARLES, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University volleyball team rallied from down a set in the match to McNeese twice to force the fifth-set, then outlasted the Cowgirls in a marathon of a decisive set as the Lady Lions took the match 3-2 (23-25, 25-19, 20-25, 25-11, 22-20) Thursday night at the Legacy Center in a battle of teams looking for one of the coveted top two spots in the Southland Conference Tournament.
SLU dropped the first set but took the second set to even the match at 1-1. After dropping the third set, it was a dominant fourth set by the Lady Lions which set up the final run to the finish. With Southeastern leading 9-8 in the fourth, a McNeese service error started an incredible 11-0 run to bust the set wide open. The set ended with the Lions outscoring the Cowgirls 16-3 as a kill by
Kailin Newsome on set point made the decisive fifth set necessary.
That fifth set couldn't have started slower for SLU as McNeese scored the first four points in it. But Southeastern rallied and scored the next three points. Over the next few rallies, the Cowgirls would open the lead a bit only to see the Lady Lions pull it right back down. Trailing 9-6, a McNeese attack error was followed by back-to-back
Ryley Boyne kills tied the set for the first time at 9-9. Three rallies later, a
Cicily Hidalgo kill gave Southeastern its first lead in the set at 11-10. A service error tied the set back up, but a
Kibi Huggins kill followed by back-to-back kills by
Karlee Wilkerson brought SLU to match point.
This time, McNeese responded with four straight points to not just force extra rallies but also put the Cowgirls on match point. SLU battled off four match point opportunities by McNeese during the extra rallies, the last coming at 20-19 as a Hidalgo kill tied the set at 20-20. An attack error by the Cowgirls gave SLU its second match point opportunity of the extra rallies and Hidalgo brought the match to its end with a kill which landed on the back line to end the match in the favor of the Lady Lions.
"I'm extremely proud of these young women," said SLU head volleyball coach
Jeremy White. "They took on one of the toughest teams in our conference on the road and earned a huge win in what might have been the biggest battle of our season. It puts us in a great position going into our Senior Day match with UIW where we get to honor a great group of student-athletes who have given their all to this university and program and hopefully finish this unbelievably strong season."
Newsome picked up her first 20-20 match in the green and gold, matching her career high with 26 kills while also collecting 20 digs, her second match of the season with 20 or more digs and was her 13
th double-double of the season. She was also credited with two block assists. Hidalgo finished the match with 17 kills, tying a season high, while also collecting a career high 22 digs for her 10
th double-double of the season.
Hannah Brewer was big at the net with five block assists and one solo block while also getting seven digs.
Ansley Tullis had 20 digs, an ace, and six assists in the match.
Gracie Duplechein had 27 assists, two aces, and seven digs.
Ariana Hebert had 25 assists, an ace, and 11 digs for her first double-double of the season and tenth of her career.
The win gives the Lady Lions (22-7, 12-5 SLC), who swept the two teams they're tied with for second place in the Southland while remaining just one game back of the leader after Thursday's action, a hand up in the race for one of the coveted top two seeds in the Conference Tournament, which includes a bye all the way to semifinals. Southeastern can lock down one of those top-two seeds on Senior Day Saturday when Incarnate Word comes to town with SLU looking to cap a perfect 12-0 home record in the regular season and a season split against UIW. Opening serve of Saturday's match against the Cardinals (6-21, 5-12 SLC) is set for noon at the University Center with the Senior Day festivities happening before opening serve. The match will be streamed live 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.
