EUGENE, Ore. – The Southland Conference Champion Southeastern Louisiana University volleyball team saw its historic 22-match win streak and 2023 season both come to an end on Thursday as the Lady Lions fell to the #6 Oregon Ducks 3-0 (25-16, 25-13, 25-13) in the first round of the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball National Championship Tournament at the Matthew Knight Arena.
Southeastern (28-5) was first to get on the scoreboard as
Rachel Hartmann opened the match with a kill. However, with SLU up 2-1 following an Oregon service error, the Ducks (27-5) went on a 6-1 run to take a 7-3 lead. Another Duck service error was followed by kills by
Kailin Newsome,
Jacqueline Arrington, and
Cicily Hidalgo for a 4-0 Lady Lion run to tie the set back up at 7-7. The two teams traded points over the next three rallies, giving Oregon a 9-8 lead, before a Hidalgo kill started another 4-0 SLU run which included a block by Newsome, a kill by Hartmann, and a block that was split between Hartmann and
Hannah Brewer to give the Lady Lions their largest lead at any point in the night at 12-9. Oregon rattled off the next three to tie it back up before Brewer scored a kill to put Southeastern back in front at 13-12. A Duck kill tied it back up before Hidalgo found the court for a kill to put SLU back in the lead at 14-13. But Oregon took control from there, outscoring the Lady Lions 12-2 the rest of the way to take the first set by a 25-16 score.
SLU was chasing immediately in the second set, giving up the first two points and falling behind 5-2. Trailing 7-4, a kill by Newsome was followed by an attack error by the Ducks to get Southeastern back within a point at 7-6. After Oregon scored two straight, a kill by Brewer and another solo block by Newsome pulled the Lady Lions back within a point at 9-8. But that would be as close as SLU would get the rest of the way as the Ducks rattled off five straight to open a 14-8 lead and steadily pulled away as that 5-0 run turned into a set-ending 16-5 Oregon run to take the second set by a 25-13 score.
With the season now on the brink, SLU opened the scoring in the third set as a Hartmann kill and an Oregon attack error gave the Lady Lions a 2-0 lead. But Oregon quickly took control, scoring seven of the next eight points to take a 7-3 lead. Southeastern looked to keep contact, cutting the deficit down to two points at 9-7 as
Ansley Tullis dropped a service ace on the backline. The Ducks scored the next three to push the advantage back up to five. After the two teams traded points which got the score to 13-9 Oregon, the Ducks pulled away by scoring the next five points to open an 18-9 lead. SLU would trade points with Oregon over the next seven rallies to get the score to 21-13, but the Ducks closed it out from there, scoring the final four points of the match to finish the third set at 25-13 and bring SLU's 2023 season to an end.
"I'm so proud of this team," said SLU head volleyball coach Jeremy White. "When I took this program over, I think they were 5-54 in two seasons prior to our arrival and these last two seasons combined I think we're 53-13 and I think that's something really impressive and it's really on the backs of these ladies who have come in and changed the entire culture of Southeastern volleyball and really changed the idea of what volleyball in the state of Louisiana can be like."
Newsome and Hidalgo both led the SLU offense with seven kills each. Newsome added two solo blocks and three kills while Hidalgo added four digs. Arrington added five kills in the match. Hartmann had four kills, nine digs, an assist, and a block assist. Brewer had two kills and a block assist.
Gracie Duplechein finished the night with 18 assists, a kill, and four digs. Tullis had nine digs, six assists, and the team's lone service ace.
The Lady Lions finished with 26 kills and 26 errors on 99 total attacks, finishing the match with a .000 attack percentage with three blocks and a service ace. Oregon, which was ranked #6 in the AVCA Top 25 heading into the tournament and was the #2 seed in the Wisconsin quarter of the tournament bracket, had 37 kills and seven errors on 78 total attacks for a .385 attack percentage. The Ducks had five service aces and blocked back eight SLU attacks for points.
SLU's 28 wins on the year ties the most victories in a single season in program history, a feat which was also accomplished by the 1995 and 1996 squads. The 2023 squad clinched its first-ever Southland Conference regular season championship while winning the SLC Championship Tournament for the second-straight season with the 22-match win streak to cap the season being the longest since the team joined the Southland 25 years ago.
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.
