HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University volleyball team returns home for the first time since the end of August, opening Southland Conference play on Thursday night before hosting the Battle for the Boot Friday & Saturday at the University Center.
 
The Lady Lions enter the weekend coming off of two successful road trips, taking two out of three matches each at the Dr. Pam Littleton Classic in Stephenville, Texas and the Jack Kaiser Classic in Queens, NY.
 
SLU (8-2, 0-0 SLC) kicks things off Thursday night by opening SLC play against Northwestern State. The Demons enter the weekend with a 4-3 overall record, and this match also opens SLC play for NSU. The Lady Lions look to make it four straight wins over the Demons in the series, having won all match-ups against the Demons since the return to play from the COVID-19 pandemic quarantine.
 
Cicily Hidalgo (3.36, 3^rd) & Kailin Newsome (3.25, 5^th) continue to rank near the top of the SLC in kills per set average, leading a Lady Lion squad that enters the weekend second in the SLC as a team in that category (13.24).
 
Thursday's match might be determined by the team with the better play at the net as SLU & NSU are 1 & 2 respectively in the SLC in blocks with the Lady Lions averaging 2.68 blocks per set and NSU averaging 2.65 blocks per set.
 
Four matches will be played in the University Center on Friday as the Battle for the Boot kicks off in earnest. The Southern Jaguars and Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters get things started at 10:00 AM. That's followed by Louisiana-Monroe taking on Southern at 1 PM. The 4 PM match-up sees LA Tech face off with ULM. The Lady Lions cap the day's festivities with a match against the Warhawks at 7 PM.
 
Saturday will see three matches played to close out the event. It opens at 10 AM again as the Warhawks take on the Demons. The Lady Lions swing into action at 12:30 PM against the Lady Techsters. The Jaguars and Demons round things out in the University Center at 3 PM.
 
ULM enters the weekend with a 4-7 record, having ended a four-match skid with a three-set win over Alcorn State in the team's most recent match. Southern starts the weekend looking for its first win of the year, currently sitting at 0-9.

SLU's matches Thursday against Northwestern State & Saturday against Louisiana Tech will be streamed on ESPN+. Live stats will be available for all eight matches being played this weekend at the University Center.
 
This is the final weekend of non-conference action for the Lady Lions as SLU enters SLC action to stay for the remainder of the season next Thursday at Houston Baptist.
 
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.