HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University Beach Volleyball team faces a big weekend with postseason implications as the Lady Lions head to Houston for four matches at the Southland Showcase, starting tomorrow at the Third Coast Volleyball Club in Houston and hosted by Houston Christian University.
 
"It's an important weekend so that we set ourselves up with the best possible seed for the Southland tournament in April," said SLU head volleyball coach Jeremy White. "Four of our six conference matches will take place over the next two days, so for us to be successful there we need to be successful this weekend."
 
Southeastern (3-6, 0-0 SLC) is coming off of a tough weekend last weekend in Baton Rouge at the LSU Tiger Beach Challenge where the Lady Lions dropped all four of their matches, falling to Central Arkansas, North Alabama, #19 South Carolina, and #5 LSU.
 
But even in the tough defeats, Coach White saw a lot of positives from Baton Rouge.
 
"Our top pair has been successful all year long, and we look for them to continue to lead us as our top duo. But down the line, I think our lower pairs have started to find their groove together, especially our number four and five pairs, and the results will start going their way because of the work they've been putting in together."
 
SLU's top pair of Jolie Hidalgo and Mia McKinney are 5-4 together this season, having the most wins as a tandem for the Lady Lions on the year after picking up a pair of wins last Saturday at LSU. Carley Petty and Alexis Logarbo also picked up a win on Saturday as the number five pair against UNA.
 
The action for the Lady Lions at the Southland Showcase starts at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday as SLU takes on Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The Islanders (5-4, 1-0 SLC) are coming off of a 3-1 weekend at the Florida Atlantic March Invitational where they dropped their opener to the host, #13 FAU, before winning the final three matches. Three of their four losses on the season have come to nationally-ranked competition - #3 TCU, #15 FIU, & #13 FAU. Southeastern's action on Saturday wraps up with a 1:00 p.m. match against Boise State. The Broncos (6-2, 0-0 SLC) are also coming off of a 3-1 weekend, this one at the Cal State-Northridge Tournament. BSU won their first three matches on the weekend, including a win over the host CSUN and fellow Southland foe HCU before dropping its final match of the weekend in the rematch with host Matadors.
 
Sunday, the Lady Lions open the second day of the event against San Jose State. The Spartans (4-0, 0-0 SLC) will play their first matches away from home this weekend and are coming off a doubleheader sweep of Portland last Friday, winning both matches by 4-1 scores. SLU's final match of the weekend will be against the host, HCU. The Huskies (2-6, 0-1 SLC) enter the weekend having lost five straight matches, including all four matches last weekend out in California. Three of their six losses have come to ranked opponents - #3 TCU, #8 Loyola Marymount, & #18 Pepperdine, while 2 other have come to fellow SLC foes, A&M-Corpus Christi in a conference match and Boise State in a nonconference match.
 
All four matches on the weekend will take place at Third Coast Volleyball Club in Houston.
 
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.