HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University Beach Volleyball team looks to close out the 2023 regular season strong when they head to the New Orleans Lakefront for the final four matches prior the start of the postseason at the Privateer Beach Invitational Thursday and Friday at the University of New Orleans' Privateer Beach.
 
Southeastern (7-18) is coming off of a 1-3 week at the Carolina Challenge, defeating Erskine to end day one and taking both Coastal Carolina and Charleston, who received votes in the AVCA Beach Coaches Poll, to the limit on day two but ultimately fell in both matches. With this being the final weekend of the regular season, the Lady Lions will be looking to get into their best form of the season ahead of next weekend's Southland Conference Championship Tournament in Corpus Christi.
 
SLU will open both days at UNO against a team they've already gotten a look at this season in Louisiana-Monroe. The Warhawks (26-2) swept their four matches at their own home event, the ULM Beach Invitational, last weekend. They knocked off Spring Hill, Stephen F. Austin, Central Arkansas, and Hendrix over the Easter weekend. SLU and ULM met in the final match of the Southeastern Sugar Beach Slam last month, a match the Warhawks won 4-1. On Thursday, the Lady Lions and Warhawks get started at 10:00 a.m. before playing the final match against each other at 2:00 p.m. on Friday.
 
Thursday's action for the Lady Lions ends with a match against Stephen F. Austin. The Lumberjacks (6-15) are coming off of a very successful Easter weekend in Monroe, where their loss to the home-standing Warhawks was their lone defeat in their four matches over the weekend as they knocked off Central Arkansas, Spring Hill, and Hendrix to end the ULM Beach Invitational on a three-match winning streak. This will be Southeastern's first match-up with SFA this season. Opening serve of the day one nightcap is set for 2:00 p.m. on Thursday.
 
After opening day two with ULM again, the Lady Lions wrap up the UNO Invitational with a match against a familiar opponent in Southland Conference foe and event host, New Orleans. The Privateers (16-13) snapped a two-match skid and earned a split at the North Alabama Tri-Match on Saturday by knocking off Tennessee-Chattanooga in the second match after opening the event with a defeat to the hosting UNA Lions. This is the third meeting between the two schools this season with SLU looking to avoid a season sweep as UNO knocked off SLU 3-2 at the Southeastern Sugar Beach Slam and 4-1 at the Bayou Beach Duals a week later. Opening serve is set for 3:30 p.m. in the regular season finale for both squads.
 
All matches of the Privateer Beach Invitational will be played at Privateer Beach on the campus of the University of New Orleans.
 
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.