HAMMOND, La. – The defending Southland Conference Champion Southeastern Louisiana University volleyball team looks to continue its six-match win streak and 18-set win streak this weekend with matches against Nicholls on Thursday and Texas A&M-Commerce on Saturday.
 
The Lady Lions' (12-4, 3-1 SLC) match against the Colonels (2-11, 0-3 SLC) is set for 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the David R. Stopher Gymnasium in Thibodaux. Saturday's match against the A&M-Commerce Lions (6-10, 2-1 SLC) is set for 11:00 a.m. in the Pride Roofing University Center. Neither match will be live streamed, though live stats will be available for both matches.
 
Southeastern enters this weekend's matches riding its longest win streak since the 2020 season, which was played during the spring of 2021, where SLU won eight straight matches. The current run of 18-straight sets won and five straight sweeps following Tuesday's night's win over New Orleans is the longest since Southeastern joined the Southland Conference.
 
Leading the charge is the reigning SLC Offensive Player of the Week in Kailin Newsome. She leads the Lady Lions with 3.98 points per set entering Thursday's action, second-most in the Southland, with her 3.59 kills per set also ranking second in the conference. While she passed 1,100 career kills during Tuesday's match against the Privateers, she looks to take over eighth place on the SLU career kills list as she's amassed 955 of them while strictly wearing the green and gold, just two kills behind Keri Hamblin who played for the Lady Lions from 2002 to 2005. Newsome also leads the team in service aces with 17 following her three-ace performance Tuesday against the Privateers, and is there on the back end, currently ranking second on the team in digs with 2.86 per set.
 
Rachel Hartmann continues to be all over the place for Southeastern, currently sitting second on the team in points per set, 3.17, third in kills per set, 2.63, tied for fourth in assists per set, 1.10, second in total service aces, 16, fourth in digs per set, 2.32, and second in total blocks, 30.
 
Cicily Hidalgo averages 3.12 points per set thanks to averaging 2.72 kills per set with 12 total service aces and 15 total blocks on the season. She's also third on the team with 2.83 digs per set.
 
Jacqueline Arrington has the best hitting percentage on the team of all players with more than 100 total attacks, averaging 1.93 kills per set on a .347 attack percentage while her 61 total blocks lead the team, helping get her up to a 2.57 point per set average.
 
Gracie Duplechein averages 8.84 assists per set and has 11 service aces. Ansley Tullis averages 3.38 digs per set, having moved up the SLU career digs list to eighth most, and has 10 aces on the season. Hannah Brewer has 15 service aces and 30 total blocks while averaging 1.27 kills per set on a .326 hitting percentage.
 
The Lady Lions have a .255 attack percentage as a team heading into Thursday's action.
 
Nicholls enters Thursday's match on the negative side of a similar streak to SLU's, having dropped six straight matches and lost 15-straight sets, having been swept in all three of their Southland Conference matches so far this season.
 
Autumn Perry leads the Colonels, averaging 3.35 points per set and 2.64 kills per set and has a team-best 15 total service aces on the year while adding 25 total blocks. Trinity VinZant averages 2.60 points per set on 2.27 kills per set while her 118 digs are the most of the team this season and has added 15 total blocks as well. Paris Dixon leads Nicholls in blocks with 34 on the season. Kendall Battistella averages 3.88 assists per set to lead the team and Gabrielle Barth's 2.92 digs per set is tops on the squad.
 
Nicholls hits .140 as a team while on the attack and gives up a full ace per set more than they serve out.
 
Texas A&M-Commerce has won two-straight, both in five sets, entering Thursday's action. The Lions from Commerce are coming off a thrilling five-set home win over Northwestern State, dealing the Demons their first SLC loss of the season in a match which saw two sets go into extra rallies, including the decisive fifth set. They also join Southeastern as the only Southland teams to beat a Southeastern Conference squad this season when they defeated Alabama in five sets just two days before SLU took down LSU in four sets.
 
Coming off a 19-kill performance in Tuesday's win over NSU, Kitana Tuufuli leads A&M-Commerce with 3.04 points per set and 2.82 kills per set on a .218 attack percentage. She's also tallied 20 total blocks on the year. Reese Fetty averages 2.64 points per set, securing 2.12 kills per set and leads the team with 16 service aces. She also averaged 2.07 digs per set and has 22 blocks on the year.
 
Seven different A&M-Commerce players have 10 or more blocks on the year already with Tuufuli and Fetty being joined by Deja Benjamin, 48, Avery Wilks, 39, Peyton Roper, 35, Breann Connally, 24, Yasmin Figueiredo, 21, and Essence Allen, 14.
 
Connally averages 4.69 assists per set to lead A&M-Commerce while Jade Smith's 4.29 digs per set is tops on the team.
 
The Lions of Commerce hit .159 as a team, both get and give up two blocks per set, and also allows a full service ace per set more than they score on the serve.
 
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.