HAMMOND, La. – The defending Southland Conference Champion Southeastern Louisiana University volleyball team will put its eight-match win streak on the line with a pair of tough challenges on the week, hosting both Houston Christian and McNeese this weekend at the Pride Roofing University Center.
 
Southeastern (14-4, 5-1 SLC) takes on the Huskies (9-8, 4-1 SLC) at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday while the match against the Cowgirls (6-12, 4-1 SLC) will begin at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday. Both matches will be live streamed on ESPN+ with an audio broadcast available on KSLU 90.9 FM in the Hammond/Ponchatoula area and worldwide on LionSports.net/ListenLive. Live stats for both matches will also be available at LionSports.net.
 
The Lady Lions enter the week's matches having won eight-straight, matching the longest win streak since the spring of 2021 when SLU also won eight in a row. The run of 24-straight sets won and seven-straight match sweeps is the longest since Southeastern joined the Southland Conference 26 years ago.
 
Kailin Newsome continues to lead the Southeastern offense, scoring 4.02 points per set, second most in the SLC, as she leads the team and is second in the SLC in kills per set, 3.55, serve aces, 23, and has accounted for 14 total blocks on the season. While she has more than 1,100 career kills to her name, Newsome starts the week just 26 kills away from collecting her 1,000^th kill solely as a member of the Southeastern volleyball team which will make her just the eighth Lady Lion to surpass that milestone while wearing the green and gold.
 
Rachel Hartmann has worked her way up to the second-highest scorer on the team, scoring 3.42 points per set as she accrues 2.80 kills per set on a .317 attack percentage. She also has 20 service aces, second most behind Newsome, and is tied for second on the team in total blocks with 37. She also helps out with the second touch, averaging 1.00 assists per set.
 
Cicily Hidalgo is next on the scoring list, averaging 3.13 points per set so far this season as she averages 2.68 kills per set while hitting at .285. Her 15 service aces is tied three ways for third-most on the squad this season while she's also added 19 blocks.
 
Jacqueline Arrington averages 1.94 kills per set, but does so on a .360 attack percentage, the highest on the team and second best in the conference. A good portion of her 2.59 points per set comes right at the net as she leads the Lady Lions with 71 total blocks on the year, 14 of them solo.
 
Right behind Arrington in terms of hitting percentage and blocks is Hannah Brewer. Brewer hits at a .345 clip, third-best in the SLC, and gets 1.31 kills per set. Her 37 total blocks ties her with Hartmann for second most on the team. She also has 15 service aces this season, tying her with Hidalgo for third-most.
 
The offense is run through Gracie Duplechein for the most part as she averages 9.21 assists per set. She also has 15 service aces, tying her with Hidalgo and Brewer for third-most on the team, but her 0.39 ace per set average is tops in the Southland.
 
As a team, Southeastern currently holds the highest point per set average in the Southland Conference, 17.25, best team hitting percentage, .268, most assists per set, 12.63, most aces per set, 1.69, fewest kills allowed per set, 11.98, and fewest opposing digs per set, 13.38.
 
Thursday's opponent, Houston Christian, is coming off of a straight-sets win over Northwestern State at home on Saturday, rebounding from its first conference loss of the season as HCU dropped a four-set decision last Thursday to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The SLC's preseason favorite, the Huskies picked up sweeps in all four of their conference wins so far.
 
A good portion of HCU's scoring comes through three sources, Sara Arroyo, Audrey Pearce, and Cassidy Drapela. Arroyo averages 3.20 points per set as she gets 2.98 kills per set and has 20 total blocks on the season. Pearce averages 3.19 points per set on 2.37 kills per set, 10 service aces, and leads HCU with 71 total blocks. Drapela averages 3.05 points per set on 2.82 kills per set and has 24 total blocks on the year. Their offense runs through Grace McLaughlin, who averages 9.40 assists per set. Kaley Feris, who is HCU's top player when it comes to digging out opposing attacks, is also the Huskies top server with 20 aces on the season.
 
The Huskies have perhaps one of the best defenses currently in the SLC, holding opposing teams to just a .191 attack percentage which is the lowest in the conference, while collecting 17.31 digs per set which is the most in the SLC. HCU hits .161 as a team and gets 11.84 kills per set and scores 15.05 points per set.
 
On Saturday, McNeese comes to town for the first of two meetings with the Cowgirls this season. McNeese starts its week looking to rebound from its first SLC loss of the season, having fallen in straight sets to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on the road last Saturday.
 
McNeese's top scorers currently are Carissa Chainey, McKenzie Moore, and Kayla Wilson. Chainey averages 3.58 points per set on 3.14 kills per set and has a team-best 15 service aces while also collecting 22 total blocks on the year. Moore averages 3.27 points per set on 2.68 kills per set and has 15 service aces as well while knocking down a team-best 42 total blocks. Wilson averages 3.22 points per set, dishing out 3.03 kills per set and has 15 total blocks on the year. Sanni Rantanen tallies 2.70 points per set with 2.17 kills per set while her 34 total blocks are second most on the team. The Cowgirls trust two setters with their offense with Megan Grose averaging 9.57 assists per set and Emma Hendricks averaging 7.73 assists per set.
 
McNeese hits .209 as a team and scores 15.88 points per set so far this season. However, in Southland Conference action alone, the Cowgirl offense is right behind SLU at the top of the conference in several categories including points per set, 19.00, hitting percentage, .288, and service aces, 1.94.
 
Saturday's match against McNeese will be Community Day, where Southeastern invite out all members of the Hammond, America area, and Camp Reunion Day, where the team will welcome back all the volleyball players who attended SLU camps during the year.
 
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.