HAMMOND, La. – The defending Southland Conference Champion Southeastern Louisiana University volleyball team rode the arm of
Kailin Newsome, who averaged seven kills a set, to avenge its lone Southland Conference loss in the first trip through SLC play and sweep the Northwestern State Lady Demons 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-16) Saturday at the Pride Roofing University Center.
Southeastern had an early lead in the first set as Newsome got an ace to fall to put the SLU up 2-1 and then a
Lily Morgan kill got the Lady Lions back out in front at 3-2. However, Northwestern State rolled off the next five to take a 7-3 lead and from there on, Southeastern was in chase mode. Things didn't get much better for the Lady Lions as NSU slowly built the lead out to seven points at 17-10 following a service ace. But SLU fought back as a Lady Demon attack error started a run of five-straight Lady Lion points as a kill by
Jacqueline Arrington cut the deficit down to 17-15. Trailing 20-17, a kill by Newsome set Southeastern on a run of four-straight points with a kill by
Rachel Hartmann giving SLU its first lead since 3-2 at 21-20. With the set tied at 23-23, it was a race to see who could string two points together to get the set win, and that proved to be the Lady Lions as a NSU serve error was followed by another Hartmann kill on set point to put Southeastern up 1-0 in the match.
The opening moments of the second set was just as even as the first set was until, trailing 7-6, a kill by
Ryley Boyne started a run of six-straight Lady Lion points as another kill by Newsome gave SLU a 12-7 advantage. The lead expanded out to six points as a
Hannah Brewer kill pushed the advantage out to 15-9 SLU. NSU answered with a 6-1 run to cut that gap down to just a single point at 16-15 on a Southeastern attack error, but SLU would not allow the Lady Demons to pull back even, answering each NSU point with one of their own over the next several rallies. Leading 19-18, another kill by Boyne started a 5-2 SLU push as a get the Lady Lions on set point, which Newsome finished off two rallies later with another kill, putting SLU up 2-0 in the match.
SLU opened up a big lead early in the third set as, after falling behind on the first rally, a Newsome kill sent the Lady Lions on a run of five-straight points with Newsome putting an end bracket on the run with another kill. The lead extended out to seven points as another Boyne kill ended a 3-0 SLU run which made the score 13-6. NSU tried to make a run to get back in the set, scoring the next four points to cut it to 13-10 SLU, but a Boyne kill and a
Lexi Gonzalez service ace helped push the advantage back out to 16-10. Leading 18-13, back-to-back kills by Hartmann gave the Lady Lions the final push needed to get to the finish line, kicking off a match-ending 7-3 run with the Lady Demons putting an attack into the net on match point to complete the sweep.
"This was another great week for us," said SLU head volleyball coach Jeremy White. "I thought we played some really gritty volleyball today. I'm proud of the younger kids that stepped up. Lexi [Gonzalez] was great from the service line and defense. And Ryley [Boyne] and Lily [Morgan] stepped up huge in the absence of Cicily [Hidalgo]."
Newsome capped off a really solid week by getting a match-high 21 kills on a .366 attack percentage while adding two service aces and a solo block. She also got her 12
th double-double of the season by collecting a match-high 18 digs.
"Kailin was big in both matches in leading the offense," continued White. "And it was awesome to see Gracie [Duplechein] reach 2,000 [career assists]. Just a great week overall."
Brewer finished the match with eight kills on a .353 attack percentage. Boyne added seven kills while Hartmann had six kills and both had five digs each. Arrington had five kills and two block assists in the contest.
Ansley Tullis had 15 digs in the match, moving her up to sixth on the SLU career digs list.
Gracie Duplechein had a season-high 46 assists, pushing her over the 2,000 career assists milestone while also adding a block assist and five digs. Gonzalez had four service aces in the match, three alone in the second set, and 12 digs.
Southeastern had 48 kills with 23 attack errors on 126 total attacks for a .198 attack percentage in the match. SLU also had six service aces and blocked three Lady Demon attacks for points. NSU finished with 28 kills and 13 attack errors on 103 total attacks for a .146 attack percentage. They also had two service aces and blocked 14 Lady Lion attacks back for points.
Now having won 12-straight and avenged the lone SLC loss on their ledger, the Lady Lions (18-4, 9-1 SLC) look to start finishing off season sweeps on Thursday as Southeastern heads to Houston for the return match with Houston Christian. Opening serve of Thursday's match against the Huskies (11-9, 6-2 SLC) is set for 6:30 p.m. in Sharp Gymnaium and it will be live streamed 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.
