SAN MARCOS, Texas – The defending Southland Conference Champion Southeastern Louisiana University volleyball team finished its run in the Bobcat Classic by picking up a split of its two matches on Friday, falling to the California Golden Bears 3-1 (28-30, 25-13, 25-22, 25-15) to start the day but ended it by sweeping the Abilene Christian Wildcats 3-0 (27-25, 25-17, 25-23) at Texas State's Strahan Arena at the University Events Center.
Match 1: California 3 (28, 25, 25, 25), Southeastern 1 (30, 13, 22, 15)
Southeastern's first match of the day proved to be a historic one for senior outside hitter
Kailin Newsome, but history would not come with the desired result.
Rachel Hartmann started the match against the Pac 12 foe well enough, earning a kill on the match's first rally to put Southeastern up 1-0. Cal scored the next four to go in front 4-1 before a kill by
Hannah Brewer started a five-point rally by the Lady Lions to reclaim the lead at 6-4. The rest of the set was just as even as it could be with neither team able to put together more than two points in a row.
Finally, with the Golden Bears on set point at 24-22, it was Southeastern which broke that trend with Hartmann, Newsome, and Newsome again getting kills on three straight rallies to fight off two Cal set points and put SLU on set point at 25-24. Over the next several rallies, Southeastern would get on set point, only to see Cal get the next point to get back even. Finally, with the Lady Lions on set point at 29-28, a Golden Bear attack missed the court and landed out of bounds, securing the Southeastern set win, 30-28, and a 1-0 lead in the match.
But the Lady Lion win in the first set just seemed to serve as a wake-up call for the Golden Bears who immediately jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the second set and never looked back. Kills by Hartmann and Newsome got Southeastern back to within 7-4, but Cal scored the next five to open up a 12-4 advantage. SLU would get as close as five points as a kill by
Cicily Hidalgo, a Cal attack error, and a kill by Hartmann got the Lady Lions to within a 15-10 score. After a trade of points made it 16-11, Cal scored on nine of the set's final 11 rallies to take the second set 25-13 and square up the match at 1-1.
Southeastern history happened in the third set, but again it would come with the Lady Lions trying to chase down the Golden Bears. Cal again jumped out to an early advantage, this time at 7-3 following a service ace. A kill by Hidalgo was the third of three-straight SLU points, getting the Lady Lions back to within a 7-6 score, but each time Southeastern closed in, Cal found a way to open the lead again. With SLU trailing 23-21, Newsome went up and sent down an attack which fell to the ground for her 1,000
th career kill, becoming just the eighth SLU player to reach that milestone in program history. However, the Golden Bears scored the next two points following that historic moment to close out the set at 25-22 and take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Looking to come back from a 2-1 deficit for the second match in a row, Southeastern started the fourth set well enough, getting another Newsome kill to score on its first rally. Over the next 17 rallies, the set would go back and forth with back-to-back kills by Newsome tying the score at 9-9. However, hopes for another comeback were dashed from there as the Golden Bears scored on nine of the next 11 rallies to open up a 18-11 advantage. SLU would score the next four thanks to a kill by Hidalgo, a block by Hartmann and Brewer, and another block by Hidalgo which made the score 18-15, but that would be the Lady Lions final point as Cal scored the final seven points of the set to end the match at 25-15 and secure the 3-1 win.
Newsome hit for a .349 attack percentage against Cal as she racked up 21 kills, including her 1,000
th career kill. She secured her fourth double-double of the season, and third in a row, with 13 digs while adding a block assist in the contest.
Peyton Stokley, filling in for
Gracie Duplechein, had 25 assists while
Calli Collins added 12.
Ansley Tullis had 17 digs. Hidalgo had 13 digs to go with nine kills. Hartmann added 10 digs to go with nine kills as well.
Southeastern hit for .261 as a team in the match while Cal finished with a .329 attack percentage as a team.
Match 2: Southeastern 3 (27, 25, 25), Abilene Christian 0 (25, 17, 23)
Much like the opening set against Cal, the first set against Abilene Christian started as even as it could get as a Wildcat attack error brought Southeastern level at 8-8. Even after ACU rattled off six straight points, SLU answered with five in a row to get right back into it as back-to-back kills by Newsome made it 14-13 Wildcats. However, the Lady Lions would remain in chase mode the rest of the set and saw Abilene Christian get onto set point at 24-20, holding 4 straight chances to take the match lead.
But the Lady Lions wouldn't let it happen. Hartmann kicked it off with a kill, and then Stokley notched a kill from the setter position to fight off the second set point. That was followed by another kill by Hartmann and one by
Jacqueline Arrington to fight off set points three and four, tying the set at 24-24 and forcing extra rallies. Arrington made it back-to-back kills for herself to switch the script and put the Lady Lions on set point. ACU scored a kill to end the five-point rally by Southeastern, but that would only slow the inevitable as a service error and an attack error by the Wildcats gave SLU the two points needed to end the incredible comeback and take the first set, 27-25.
After scoring seven of the last eight points to win the first set, the run continued at the start of the second with SLU winning seven of the first eight rallies to take a 7-1 lead following another Wildcat attack error. Another ACU attack failing to fall inside the lines gave Southeastern its largest lead of the set at 14-6. Over the rest of the set, the Lady Lions did enough to keep the Wildcats at arm's length while also taking advantage of numerous ACU miscues to put the set away by a rather comfortable 25-17 score, giving SLU a 2-0 lead in the match.
The third set seemed like it was going to be even more comfortable than the second as Southeastern jumped out to an immediate 6-1 lead following a kill by Newsome. ACU had a bit of a run in them, cutting the SLU lead down to two points at 12-10, but the Lady Lions opened it up by scoring on seven of the next nine rallies to make it 20-12 Southeastern as Arrington blocked back a Wildcat attack. But hopes of a quick run to 25 were dashed as the Wildcats scored the next seven points to make it 20-19 SLU before a Newsome kill ended the extended ACU rally. Following an Abilene point, a kill by Arrington and another ACU attack error gave the Lady Lions a little breathing room again at 23-20. That breathing room was needed as ACU scored twice in a row to make it 23-22 before Hidalgo got a kill to put Southeastern on match point. A kill by ACU fought off one match point, but the Wildcats couldn't fight off a second as Hidalgo registered another kill to end it at 25-23, securing the sweep.
Newsome secured her fifth double-double of the season, and fourth in a row, as she finished the match with 10 kills and 10 digs while also adding an assist. Stokley added 29 assists while Collins added 12. Hidalgo had a team-high 13 kills to go with eight kills and a service ace. Tullis added 11 digs, an ace, and an assist.
Southeastern hit .280 as a team in the win while Abilene Christian finished with an attack percentage of just .187 as a team in the nightcap.
"Coming out of this event 2-1 with a big win over a team receiving top 25 votes is huge," said SLU head volleyball coach Jeremy White. "More than anything, I'm extremely proud of how we responded when Gracie left the match against Texas State. We finished that match with great intensity and continued to play well today with new personnel. Overall, it was a great, though bittersweet weekend."
The Lady Lions (5-3) come back to Louisiana to finish off their weekend of action on Sunday in the state capitol as they take on LSU. Opening serve of Sunday's match against the Tigers (3-3) is set for 2:00 p.m. at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center and the match will be live streamed on the SEC Network+.
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
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