HOUSTON, Texas – The defending Southland Conference Champion Southeastern Louisiana University volleyball team finished off the season sweep of the team that was picked to win the SLC at the start of the season, extending its historic win streak to 13 games by downing the Houston Christian Huskies 3-1 (25-23, 23-25, 25-22, 25-22) Thursday night at Sharp Gymnasium.
HCU tried to establish an early advantage to start the match, jumping out to an 8-4 lead following a kill. Trailing 10-6, a kill by
Rachel Hartmann started a 4-1 Southeastern run as
Cicily Hidalgo blocked back a Huskies attack to make it a one-point game at 11-10 HCU. Houston Christian extended the lead back out to four points, the last time at 20-16, but that's when the Lady Lions went on a huge run to turn the set to Southeastern's favor as a
Kailin Newsome kill started a 7-0 SLU push with a kill by Hartmann ending the run with the Lady Lions leading 23-20. Five rallies later, Hartmann and
Hannah Brewer combined to swat back a HCU attack on set point to give SLU the 1-0 lead in the match.
Southeastern tried to jump out early in the second set, getting out to an 8-5 lead as a HCU attack missed the court. A kill by
Jacqueline Arrington got that lead back at 9-6, but that's where the Huskies ran off five straight points to take the lead at 11-9 on a service ace. SLU quickly tied the set back up at 11-11 on a kill by Newsome and a service ace by
Gracie Duplechein. Later in the set, Duplechein and Brewer combined on a block to give Southeastern a 20-18 lead. But HCU closed the set strong, scoring on seven of the final 10 rallies to take the set and tie the match at 1-1.
SLU was again out front early in the third set, jumping out to a 10-6 lead on a kill by Newsome. This time though, the Lady Lions continued to press the advantage, getting the lead up to 16-10 as Duplechein and Arrington combined on a block to make it 16-10 SLU. This time, the Lady Lions had an answer each time Houston Christian tried to mount a rally, keeping the Huskies at bay until a kill by Hidalgo on set point gave Southeastern the set win at 25-22 and gave them the lead in the match again at 2-1.
Again, it was the Lady Lions who got out to the quick start in the fourth set as another Newsome kill gave SLU a 6-3 lead. HCU battled back to tie the set at 8-8 before Newsome scored another kill to start a run of four-straight Southeastern points as Newome capped the run with a kill as well to make it 12-8. The Huskies fought back, eventually taking the lead at 16-15 on a service ace. Trailing 21-18, the match seemed like it was headed towards a fifth set, but a HCU attack missed the court and the Lady Lions took advantage by scoring three-straight points to tie the set at 21-21 thanks to a kill by Brewer. The Huskies temporarily took possession of the lead again on the next rally, but that would be fleeting as a kill by Hartmann and an ace by Newsome put SLU back on top at 23-22. A double touch on a set attempt by HCU put SLU on match point, and
Cicily Hidalgo finished it off by tipping her attack off the fingers of a HCU player for a kill and the match victory.
"Houston Christian is a great team run by a great staff," said SLU head volleyball coach Jeremy White. "Any time you can manage to win both matches against them, it's a big deal."
Newsome had her fourth match of the season with 20 or more kills, and second in a row, finishing with 21 kills on a .200 attack percentage. In the process, Newsome moved up to seventh on the SLU career kills list during the match. She also tallied 14 digs to pick up her 13
th double-double of the season while adding an assist, a service ace, and a solo block. Hartmann was nipping at Newsome's heels for match-high honors in kills, finishing with 19 herself on a .319 attack percentage while adding an assist, two service aces, four block assists, and 10 digs for her sixth double-double of the season
"I thought both [Newsome and Hartmann] played tremendous in all phases of the game, big play after big play," continued White. "We're glad they're on our side."
Arrington had her fifth double-digit kill performance as a Lady Lion, finishing with 10 kills on the night on a .308 attack percentage to go with two digs and two block assists. Duplechein had a season-best 55 assists in tonight's match while also getting two service aces and 12 digs for her seventh double-double of 2023.
Ansley Tullis led all defenders with 20 digs while
Lexi Gonzalez added 11 and had an assist.
As a team, Southeastern hit .231 with 62 kills and 22 errors on 173 total attacks. SLU also had five service aces and blocked back 10 HCU attacks for points. The Huskies were held to .201 hitting as a team with 57 kills and 23 errors on 169 total attacks while accruing four service aces and had 10 blocks for points as well.
The Lady Lions (19-4, 10-1 SLC) look to extend the historic win streak out to 14 matches on Saturday in the second of three-straight road matches when they head north for a date with Texas A&M-Commerce. Opening serve of Saturday's match against the Commerce Lions (9-14, 5-5 SLC) is set for 11:00 a.m. in The Field House. The match will not be live streamed, but live stats will be available online.
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.
