HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University volleyball team extended its unbeaten start to the 2022 campaign with a 25-19, 25-23, 25-17 victory over Jackson State in Tuesday night's home opener in the University Center.
SLU (4-0) was more efficient as the match progressed, hitting .200 in the opening set, .270 in a back-and-forth set two and closing the match out with a blistering .375 success rate in the final set. The Lady Lions hit .279 for the match on the way to dropping Jackson State to 1-3 overall.
"We came out with a little bit of a lull," Southeastern head coach
Jeremy White said. "We started to pick up our play as the match went on and really put our feet on the gas in the third set. I was happy to see us grow throughout the match."
The combo of
Cicily Hidalgo (15 kills, .353 hitting percentage) and
Kailin Newsome (11 kills, .368) led the Lady Lion offensive attack. Setters
Peyton Stokley and
Gracie Duplechein shared team-high honors with 15 assists apiece.
Southeastern held Jackson State to a .148 attack percentage in Tuesday's win.
Crispin Adams led Southeastern with eight blocks, while Hidalgo and
Alexis Logarbo contributed five and four, respectively.
Ansley Tullis paced SLU with 17 digs from her libero position.
JSU was led by Alexis Williams, who posted a double-double with 11 kills and 10 digs. Alana Washington had a team-high 14 digs for the Lady Tigers, while teammate Damassy Thompson led all players with 16 assists.
Leading 18-17 in the opening set, Southeastern ripped off five straight points on a pair of Newsome kills, a block by Logarbo and
Hannah Brewer and a pair of JSU errors to take a 23-17 lead. The visitors would get no closer than four, as back-to-back kills by Stokley and Brewer closed out the opening set.
Jackson State took the first four points of the second set, but Southeastern would rally to pull even at 7-7. From that point forward, neither team led by more than two points in a set that featured 11 ties and three lead changes. A Hidalgo kill followed by a JSU error gave Southeastern the second set, 25-23, and extended the lead to 2-0.
The third set was all Southeastern from the outset. The Lady Lions committed just two errors in the final set on the way to closing out the three-set win.
Southeastern will be back on the road for the next two weekends. The Lady Lions' road swing starts with a trip to Stephenville, Texas to compete in the Dr. Pam Littleton Classic.
Southeastern opens the tournament against host Tarleton State Friday at 10 a.m. SLU then faces Prairie View (10 a.m.) and Tennessee State (1 p.m.) Saturday. Friday's match will be televised on ESPN+. Saturday's matches will be streamed on WACInternational.tv (free subscription required).
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.
