HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University volleyball team started its season well enough, picking up a straight sets win against Grambling to open the season, but then saw its 16-match home win streak end with a four-set loss to (RV) Washington Friday as part of the Southeastern Showdown at the Pride Roofing University Center.
Match 1: Grambling 0 (18, 16, 14), Southeastern 3 (25, 25, 25)
Southeastern started fast in the first set against Grambling, immediately jumping out to a 7-2 lead following a
Hannah Brewer kill. The Lady Tigers would cut the lead down to two at 11-9, but a kill by
Rachel Hartmann started a run of six points out of seven for the Lady Lions, opening the lead up to 17-10 as Brewer put down another kill.
Grambling answered with four straight points to cut the SLU lead down to three, 17-14, but another Brewer kill started a run of seven out of eight points going the way of the Lady Lions as a
Kibi Huggins kill put Southeastern on set point, 24-15. After three straight Grambling points, a service error gave the Lady Lions the first set victory.
The Lady Tigers scored a kill to open the second set for their first, and only, lead of the match, but the Lady Lions quickly erased any optimism Grambling was trying to build by scoring the next eight points and 10 of the next 11 to take a 10-2 lead as an
Ansley Tullis serve fell in for an ace.
Grambling, though, went on a big run of their own, scoring on 11 of the next 15 rallies to cut it to just a one-point SLU lead at 14-13. After some trading of points, Southeastern found itself leading 16-15 before the Lady Lions busted the set open for good. Another kill by Brewer started SLU off on a set-ending 9-1 run, culminating with an ace by
Cicily Hidalgo for the 25-16 set win.
Southeastern scored the first two points of the third set and never looked back to finish the sweep. A kill by
Kailin Newsome put the Lady Lions up 6-1. A kill by Hidalgo made it 14-5 SLU, which was later followed with a kill by
Jacqueline Arrington for the first 10-point lead in the set at 17-7. SLU steadily closed out the match from there with
Lexi Gonzalez ending it with an ace at 25-14.
Newsome picked up her first double-double of the season with 11 kills and 22 digs against the Lady Tigers.
Gracie Duplechein had 18 assists while Hartmann added 17 helpers. Hartmann also added 10 digs for her first double-double as a Lady Lion. Tullis had two service aces to go with 11 digs.
Match 2: (RV) Washington 3 (25, 25, 17, 25), Southeastern 1 (14, 18, 25, 18)
The Lady Lions looked to keep the momentum going against a Washington team which received votes in the preseason American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division I Top 25 Poll, and couldn't have asked for a better start as Duplechein dropped down a pair of service aces before a kill by Hartmann put Southeastern up 3-0 in the first set. The lead grew even further as Huggins and Brewer combined on a block to make it 7-3 SLU.
However, the momentum turned in a flash as the Huskies scored six straight and nine of the next 10 to take the lead at 12-8. A kill by Newsome looked to slow the tide, bringing the Lady Lions to within 13-10, but Washington scored on nine of the next 11 rallies to blow the set open at 22-12. It took five rallies for the Huskies to get the final three points needed to take the first set, 25-14.
Washington continued the run with the first two points of the second set before kills by Arrington and Hartmann tied things up at 2-2, but the Huskies scored on six of the next seven rallies to go up 8-3. Southeastern slowly cut into the deficit, getting it down to just two points at 16-14 off of a Husky attack error. A kill by Hartmann made the score 17-15 in favor of Washington, but that's as close as SLU would get in the set as Washington scored the next six points to open the gap needed to close out the set, 25-18, and take a 2-0 lead in the match.
With their backs against the wall, the Lady Lions came out swinging in the third set as kills by Hartmann and Hidalgo started a 7-0 SLU run before the Huskies scored their first point in the set. Washington scored the next four points to cut the Lady Lion lead down to three, but that's as close as the Huskies would get.
Leading 8-5, a kill by Arrington started Southeastern on a 6-1 run as back-to-back aces by Hartmann put SLU up 14-6. With the Lady Lions up 18-11, a kill by Hidalgo started a five-point spurt for Southeastern which ended when a Husky attack error made it 23-11 SLU. However, it took eight rallies for Southeastern to get the final two points needed to close out the set, which Newsome finally secured with a kill for the 25-17 set win, but giving up vital momentum to Washington heading into the fourth.
Washington scored the first two points of the fourth set before a service error and a kill by Hartmann tied it back up. The Huskies retook the lead at 3-2 before Arrington tied it back up with a kill at 3-3.
Washington scored the next six and seven of the next eight to open a 10-4 lead before a kill by Newsome kicked off a run of four straight and five of the next six by the Lady Lions to make it 11-9 after another Newsome kill.
Southeastern worked the match back to even at 13-13 on a kill by Hidalgo, but could just not get in front. The Huskies reclaimed the lead at 14-13 before a Hartmann kill tied the score again, then another Husky point was answered by a kill by Newsome to make it 15-15.
However, Washington scored the next four points and used that as the catapult needed to close out the match, getting the point on 10 of the final 13 rallies to close out the match, 25-18, and hand Southeastern its first loss inside the Pride Roofing University Center since a five-set defeat to Incarnate Word on November 6, 2021, a span of 16 matches which included the two wins needed to clinch the 2022 Southland Conference Tournament Championship.
Hartmann went two-for-two with double-doubles on the day, tallying 13 kills and 12 assists to go with seven digs in the nightcap. Newsome came up one dig shy of joining her in that category as she finished with 13 kills as well and nine digs. Hidalgo added 12 kills to go with seven digs in the match. Duplechein had her own double-double with 20 assists and 10 digs, as did Tullis with 12 assists and 10 digs. Duplechein and Hartmann both added a team-high three service aces to their tallies in the nightcap.
The Lady Lions (1-1) look to rebound in the final match of the Southeastern Showdown on Saturday, facing off with UTEP to close out the weekend. Opening serve against the Miners (2-0) is set for 1:30 pm in the Pride Roofing University Center and the match will be live streamed on ESPN+.
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.
