HAMMOND, La. – The reigning
, two-time Southland Conference Champion Southeastern Louisiana University volleyball team rolled from start to finish in a dominating, straight sets win over the New Orleans Privateers 3-0 (25-9, 25-14, 25-12) Tuesday night at the University Center, giving head coach Jeremy White his 100
th win as the Lady Lions head coach.
Cicily Hidalgo also continued moved up to fifth-place on Southeastern's career points scored list, finishing the night with 14 points in the match, moving her career total to 1,393 points and pushing her past Dina Donalson on the list. Hidalgo ended the night with her ninth double-double of the season, finishing with 11 kills and 10 digs while also getting three service aces in the match.
Other leaders for the Lady Lions (13-4, 5-0 SLC) include
Hannah Brewer who ended the night with three kills, but had a match on the serve line as she scored five aces in the match to go with two block assists and nine digs.
India Bennett also had nine points in the match, finishing with five kills and seven total blocks, one solo.
In her return to action after missing the last two matches,
Ashley Richardson had her fifth double-double of the season with 16 assists and 10 digs.
SLU ended the night with 40 kills while tying the team's season low with just nine errors for a .369 attack percentage on 84 total attacks. The Lady Lions had 12 service aces and blocked back nine UNO attacks for points. The Privateers (2-15, 0-5 SLC) ended the night with a negative attack percentage, finishing with 16 kills while committing 17 errors on 88 total attacks to end at -.011 hitting. UNO scored on three aces and blocked back three SLU attacks for points.
The win was head coach Jeremy White's 100
th as the leader of the Lady Lions, making him just the second SLU head coach to hit the century mark, joining Roni Armeda-Hipp. White hit 100 wins in just 157 matches as SLU's head coach, a .637 winning percentage which is currently the highest in program history.
"It's a great honor to be in the same company with Coach Armeda-Hipp and the success her teams had in the '90s," said White. "I'm even more proud of the groups of great, young women who worked so hard to put me in the position to achieve this level of success."
White says he's only been able to achieve the milestone thanks to the student-athletes who have come to Hammond, America and made the commitment to continually raising the bar at Southeastern.
"We've been lucky to be the choice school of a lot of amazing young women," continued White, "who have committed themselves to a championship standard of performance in every aspect that encompasses what is a true student-athlete. Without them, Southeastern volleyball would not be what it is today."
UNO enjoyed the early advantage, jumping out in front of Southeastern during the early rallies until the Privateers led 5-4. A Hidalgo kill tied the score and a kill by
Keira Beverly put SLU back in front for the first time since 3-2 at 6-5. UNO evened the score back up on a Lady Lion serve error, but UNO returned the favor with a serve error of its own. That miscue started a run of three-straight SLU points as a kill by Bennett and one by
Kyra McKelvey made it 9-6 Southeastern.
The Privateers stayed close over the next three rallies, taking two of those to make the score 10-8 SLU, but a kill by Hidalgo got the Lady Lion offense in gear and UNO could not slow it down as Southeastern rattled off the next 14 points to get onto set point. During that run, the Lady Lions scored eight kills, four blocks, and back-to-back service aces by Brewer. A lift violation ended the 14-0 run, but
Lily Morgan scored a kill on the next rally to end the set with SLU scoring 15 of the final 16 points to end the set with a 25-9 score and the Lady Lions up 1-0 in the match.
That run continued into the second set with a Privateer attack error and another ace by Brewer giving Southeastern a 2-0 lead. UNO got one back on a SLU attack error, but kills by
Alexis Logarbo and Hidalgo made it 4-1 Lady Lions, capping a 19-2 SLU run that started in the first set.
UNO scored the next three to pull back even, but kills by Beverly and Hidalgo kept the Lady Lions in front back at 6-4. The Privateers got the next two to tie the score again, but another Hidalgo kill started the run that put the Lady Lions in control as Southeastern went on a 13-2 run. A kill by Logarbo put SLU up 19-8 and in position to glide to a second set win.
But the Privateers made the Lady Lions fight for it, scoring on six of the next nine rallies to cut the Southeastern lead down to 22-14. SLU would put the match away as a kill by McKelvey, a UNO attack error, and a kill by
Anne Brauckmiller finished the set with a 25-14 score, giving Southeastern a 2-0 lead.
The two teams traded the first four sets in the third set, but a kill by Hidalgo broke the tie and the Lady Lions were off and running again, scoring nine of the next 10 points to go up 11-3 on a service ace by
Peyton Stokley.
UNO scored the next three to try and get back in the set, making the score 11-6 SLU, but a kill by McKelvey started a 6-1 Southeastern run with a UNO attack error ending the run with the Lady Lions up 10 at 17-7. UNO scored five of the next seven to cut the Lady Lion advantage down to 19-12, but a Privateer serve error would be the start of the end as Southeastern scored the match's final six points.
Carissa Young scored a kill which was followed by another Privateer attack error. Then came another pair of service aces by Brewer back-to-back to get the Lady Lions on match point. Young and Bennett ended the night by stuffing a Privateer attack back on UNO's side of the court for the 25-12 score, completing the sweep.
The win was Southeastern's 13
th in a row, 22
nd in a row in Southland Conference play, and 25
th in a row against SLC teams in all competitions. It was also SLU's fifth-straight win over the Privateers, all in straight sets. Southeastern has won nine of the last 10 matches over UNO.
The Lady Lions continue their three-match-in-five-day homestand on Thursday as Nicholls comes to Hammond, America for throwback night. Opening serve of Thursday's match against the Colonels (6-9, 1-3 SLC) is set for 6:30 p.m. in the University Center. The match will be televised on ESPN+ with a radio broadcast also available on 90.9 FM The Lion in the Hammond/Ponchatoula area, online at LionSports.net/ListenLive and LionUpRadio.org, and on smart devices through the Lions Gameday Experience app, the TuneIn Radio app, or the MyTuner Radio app. Live stats will also be available on LionSports.net.
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.
