NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The reigning
, two-time Southland Conference Champion Southeastern Louisiana University volleyball team took the experience of completing a reverse sweep of Stephen F. Austin last month and did it again, knocking off the Ladyjacks 3-2 (14-25, 20-25, 25-20, 25-22, 15-13) Saturday afternoon at the Robert H. Shelton Gymnasium.
The win extended Southeastern's (17-4, 9-0 SLC) overall win streak to 17 matches, win streak in Southland Conference play to 26 in a row, and win streak against SLC teams in all competitions to 29-straight. With the win, SLU is now the lone team still without a loss in SLC play in 2024.
Stephen F. Austin (15-6, 7-1 SLC) saw its 10-match win streak snapped. The Ladyjacks also entered the match with the nation's longest home win streak, having not lost in Shelton Gym since dropping a 3-0 decision to Arkansas in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) on Dec. 4, 2021, a run of 35-straight matches. That streak was also snapped on Saturday.
Cicily Hidalgo collected her 10
th double-double of the season, picking up 18 kills on a .208 attack percentage with 17 digs. She also had three service aces and five block assists to finish the match with 23.5 points, the highest total of the day.
Hannah Brewer picked up her fifth double-double of the season by scoring 13 kills and 10 digs. She added a block assist to finish with 13.5 points. In the match.
Gracie Duplechein and
Ashley Richardson both picked up assists-digs double-doubles on the day. Duplechein had 33 assists with 11 digs for her sixth double-double of the year while Richardson had 23 assists and 13 digs for her eighth double-double of the season and third in a row. Richardson also had a service ace in the contest.
Other top scorers for the Lady Lions included
India Bennett with 14 points on 10 kills and eight block assists, and
Keira Beverly who had 12 kills and two block assists for 13 points.
Southeastern ended the match hitting .215 as a team, scoring on 70 kills with 29 errors on 191 total attacks. SLU had five service aces and 10 blocks in the match. Stephen F. Austin finished the day with a .253 attack percentage, scoring 64 kills with 18 errors on 182 total attacks. The Ladyjacks scored seven service aces and blocked back 15 SLU attacks for points.
Brewer opened the match positively for Southeastern, scoring a kill on the opening rally to put the Lady Lions up 1-0. Up 2-1 after a kill by Bennett, SLU started to see the momentum slip away as SFA scored on five of the next six rallies to claim a 6-3 lead.
A kill by Hidalgo got SLU back within 6-4, but the Ladyjacks started to take control of the set by scoring the next four points and go up 10-4. Southeastern scored four of the next six to get back within four points as a kill by Bennett made it 12-8 SFA.
That's where the Ladyjacks started to open the gap, scoring on the next three rallies to take a 15-8 lead. Southeastern worked to keep it within striking distance, scoring on four of the next six to cut the deficit down to five points at 17-12 following a Hidalgo kill. However, SFA used one final big push to close out the set, scoring on eight of the final 10 rallies, including the final three in a row, to take the first set, 25-14.
The Ladyjacks opened the second set quickly, jumping out to a 5-1 lead and pushed that advantage out to 10-4. After splitting the next four to make it 12-6, Southeastern scored on four of the next six as a kill by
Kyra McKelvey made the score 14-10.
SFA pushed that advantage right back up by scoring on the next three rallies and five of the next seven to take a 19-12 lead. SLU started to gather some momentum, scoring on eight of the next 12 rallies, fighting off two set points to make it 24-20 before the Ladyjacks ended the set with a block for a 25-20 set final and a 2-0 lead in the match.
The momentum Southeastern gathered at the end of the second set didn't seem to materialize to start the third as SFA jumped out to a 3-1 lead. However, after the two teams traded points to make it 4-2 Ladyjacks, the momentum seemed to kick in for SLU as a kill by Beverly started a 7-1 Lady Lions run. Brewer capped that run with a kill to make it 9-5 Southeastern.
Stephen F. Austin battled back, scoring on four of the next five to cut the SLU lead back down to one point, but a kill by Brewer halted SFA's run. After trading the next four points to make it 12-11 Lady Lions, a kill by Hidalgo got the offense clicked for Southeastern as SLU scored 10 of the next 13 points to take a 22-14 lead as McKelvey and Bennett blocked back a Ladyjack attack.
SFA scored five of the next six to cut the SLU lead down to 23-19, but Brewer answered with a kill to put the Lady Lions on set point. Two rallies later, Hidalgo got SLU on the board with a kill, ending the third set at 25-20 and forcing a fourth set.
Southeastern got a dream start to the fourth set, getting back-to-back kills by Logarbo, a block by Hidalgo and Bennett, another Logarbo kill, and another block by Bennett and Logarbo to jump out to a 5-0 lead. SFA came back with four-straight to cut that lead down to one, but a kill by Bennett helped keep the Lady Lions ahead.
SLU maintained the lead to 10-9, but that's where Southeastern was able to again open a bit of a gap as a kill by Hidalgo started a 4-0 Lady Lion run. A block by Bennett and McKelvey reestablished a five-point edge at 14-9. Leading 16-14, a Bennett kill kicked off a 5-2 SLU run to make it a five-point lead once again as a kill by Hidalgo gave the Lady Lions a 21-16 lead. Southeastern answered each SFA mini-run to keep at least a two-point lead the rest of the way. With SLU on set point, a kill by Bennett gave the Lady Lions a 25-22 win in the set, forcing the decisive fifth set.
While Southeastern scored first in the fifth set on another Bennett kill, and then again to go up 2-1 on a Logarbo kill, SFA took the early advantage by scoring the next three points to get up 4-2. SLU scored three of the next four to tie the set up at 5-5 on a Hidalgo service ace, but the Ladyjacks maintained the edge over the five rallies, and the two teams switched sides of the court with SFA leading 8-7.
But the switch seemed to also flip a switch for the Lady Lions as Southeastern came out of the break and got a kill by Brewer which started a 5-0 SLU run with a kill by Hidalgo putting the Lady Lions up 12-8.
SFA made a run to get back in it, scoring five of the next seven points to make it 14-13, but the Lady Lions would not be denied. Following a timeout, Beverly received a pass and, after bouncing around on the Ladyjack side for a moment, her attack finally found the court for the kill, securing the match's final point and the comeback win.
"Today was a gritty performance by this group," said SLU head volleyball coach Jeremy White. "I thought SFA came out with a tremendous level of energy and enthusiasm. To see our team battle through that, build their own momentum, and then turn the tide over and over again was unbelievable. Couldn't be happier for or more proud of these young women."
The Lady Lions now take their 17-match win streak to Houston on Thursday for the third of the four-match road trip. Opening serve of Thursday's match against the Huskies (7-11, 4-3 SLC) is set for 6:30 p.m. in Sharp Gymnasium. The match will be televised on ESPN+ with live stats also available.
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.
