HAMMOND, La. – The defending Southland Conference Champion Southeastern Louisiana University volleyball team will put its historic 10-match win streak on the line in two matches this week, starting with a trip to Beaumont, Texas for a match against Lamar on Thursday night before coming home for the return match Saturday against Northwestern State.
 
Southeastern's match against Lamar (1-17, 1-6 SLC) is set to start at 6:00 p.m. in McDonald Gym while Saturday's match between the Lady Lions (16-4, 7-1 SLC) and Northwestern State (9-10, 5-3 SLC) will begin at 11:00 a.m. in the Pride Roofing University Center. Both matches will be live streamed on ESPN+ while Saturday's match against NSU will also have a live audio broadcast on KSLU 90.9 FM in the Hammond/Ponchatoula area and worldwide at LionSports.net/ListenLive and on the Lions Gameday Experience app. Live stats for both matches will also be available.
 
SLU opens this week of action atop the Southland Conference standings with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi a half-game behind as the only two teams with one loss in conference play as the schedule flips and teams start to see each other for the second time this season. Last week's wins over Houston Christian and McNeese, handing both their second SLC losses of the season, garnered Rachel Hartmann her second SLC Offensive Player of the Week award this year while Gracie Duplechein earned her first career Setter of the Week award.
 
Kailin Newsome continues to lead the Lady Lion offense on the year, scoring 3.95 points per set, currently the second-best average in the Southland Conference. She gets 3.47 kills per set while leading the team in service aces with 26. She also has 16 total blocks to her credit.
 
Hartmann sits right on Newsome's heels in terms of scoring, averaging 3.62 points per set with is fifth-best in the Southland heading into the weekend. She puts down 3.00 kills per set on a .335 attack percentage, has 22 service aces on the year, and has accounted for 44 blocks on the season.
 
Cicily Hidalgo ranks third on the team in scoring, averaging 3.13 points per set, knocking down 2.67 kills per set on a .260 attack percentage with 15 service aces and 26 total blocks on the year.
 
Jacqueline Arrington averages 2.60 points per set, scoring 1.95 kills per set on a team-best .345 attack percentage while also having the most blocks on the squad with 82. Her 1.12 block per set average is third-most in the Southland Conference.
 
Hannah Brewer also has 44 total blocks on the year, tying Hartmann for second-most for Southeastern. Duplechein's 9.22 assists per set is the fourth-most in the SLC. Ansley Tullis leads the team in digs, averaging 3.40 per set.
 
SLU leads the conference in points per set, 17.24, team attack percentage, .256, service aces per set, 1.68, lowest opponent attack percentage, .188, and fewest opponent digs per set, 13.74.
 
Thursday's opponent, Lamar, is coming off its first win of the season, a five-set victory at Nicholls where the Cardinals rallied from down 2-1 after the third to knock off the Colonels in Thibodaux.
 
Lyric Jordan leads the Cardinals in scoring on the season, averaging 3.74 points per set. She accumulates 3.21 kills per set and has 14 service aces and 22 total blocks to her name.
 
Wiktoria Warpechowska scores 2.86 points per set for second-best on Lamar, scoring 2.02 kills per set on a team-best .225 attack percentage. She also has 12 serve aces and leads the team in blocking with 48 total blocks on the year.
 
Taisha Rhone leads the Cardinals with 20 service aces on the season and scores 2.29 points per set.
 
Gracie Cassidy has 38 blocks on the season. Jo Moffitt has 25 blocks while being Lamar's top setter with 7.63 assists per set. Kaeden Robinson leads the Cardinals in digs, averaging 3.80 per set.
 
Lamar averages 13.32 points per set as a team, getting 9.98 kills per set on a .128 team attack percentage. The Cardinals block 1.89 opposing attacks per set. Their opponents score 17.88 points per set against them, securing 13.86 kills per set on a .241 attack percentage.
 
Saturday's match against Northwestern State, which will serve as part of the weekend's homecoming festivities, represents the first time Southeastern will see an in-conference opponent for the second time this season, and will do so with SLU looking to avenge its lone conference loss coming into the weekend as NSU was the last team to get the better of the Lady Lions prior to the current win streak. The Lady Demons rallied from a 2-1 deficit to defeat SLU in five sets in the first match of the Battle for the Boot Tournament last month which also stood as the SLC opener for both teams. NSU enters the weekend coming off of a five-set win at home over Incarnate Word which ended a two-match skid by the Lady Demons.
 
Teresa Garza, who had a season-high 19 kills in the first meeting with SLU, leads the Lady Demons in scoring as she averages 3.20 points per set. She scores 2.65 kills per set and has 13 service aces on the season while also being credited with 49 total blocks on the year.
 
Tessa Gerwig scores 2.70 points per set and has 46 blocks on the year. She averages 2.28 kills per set when on the attack.
 
Reaghan Thompson averages 2.67 points per set and does a lot of her damage at the net, leading the Southland Conference in blocks with 102 while also hitting .304 to score 1.75 kills per set.
 
Jordan Gamble averages 2.42 points per set, doing so thanks to 55 total blocks on the season while getting 1.56 kills per set on a .221 attack percentage while adding 15 service aces.
 
Piper Boydstun, one of two setters utilized significantly by NSU, leads the team in service aces with 22. She currently leads the Lady Demons in assists with 4.75 per set. The other main setter for the Lady Demons, Amina Attra averages 4.42 assists per set and has 13 service aces on the season.
 
Ashlyn Svoboda leads NSU in the dig category, averaging 4.35 per set.
 
Northwestern State averages 15.84 points per set on the season. The Lady Demons tally 11.71 kills per set on a .185 team attack percentage while their opponents score 16.36 points per set and get 13.17 kills per set on a .194 attack percentage. NSU leads the conference in blocks per set average by more than half a block, tallying 2.75 blocks per set.
 
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
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