NATCHITOCHES, La. – The back-to-back Southland Conference Regular Season Champion Southeastern Louisiana University volleyball team completed its run through history, securing a 16-0 record in SLC play by defeating the Northwestern State Demons 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-15) Saturday evening at Prather Coliseum.
Southeastern (24-4, 16-0 SLC) completed the program's first undefeated run through the Southland while picking up the conference's first undefeated in-conference record since the 2019 Stephen F. Austin team also went 16-0. The win extended the nation's longest win streak out to 24 victories in a row while SLU won its 33
rd-straight match in SLC play and 36
th-straight match against Southland teams in all competitions.
The Lady Lions finished the match hitting at a .291 clip, scoring 46 kills with 16 errors on 103 total attacks. SLU also got points off of seven service aces and 10 blocks back. The Demons (8-17, 3-13 SLC) finished the match with 24 kills and 17 errors on 85 total attacks for a team .082 attack percentage. NSU scored on six service aces and 10 blocks.
"I think a season like this is just a testament to these young women and their commitment to excellence in every facet of our program - athletically, academically, and culturally," said SLU head volleyball coach Jeremy White. "Most of all, I know they're not satisfied until we achieve our ultimate goal of another berth to the NCAA Tournament. As a program, we stay focused and keep our heads down in order to keep moving forward and a season like this is proof that by committing to the standards that we have, you can achieve awesome things."
India Bennett had a career night, scoring a career high 15 points by tying her career high in kills with 10 on a .500 attack percentage. She added eight total blocks, two solo, to account for the rest of her points.
Hannah Brewer had a match-high 11 kills to go with an ace and a solo block to end the night with 13 points.
Cicily Hidalgo ended the night with 10.5 points, scoring nine kills on a .316 attack percentage with an ace and a block assist. She also had a match high-tying eight digs.
Gracie Duplechein led the team with 18 assists and had two service aces which tied team-high honors while also matching Hidalgo's eight digs to lead the team.
Ashley Richardson had 17 assists with seven digs.
Lexi Gonzalez also had two aces to tie Duplechein while adding five digs.
Bennett started the match with a solo block, and then Brewer had a service ace to give the Lady Lions the match's first two points. Southeastern maintained the two-point edge through the first 14 rallies as a kill by Brewer gave SLU an 8-6 lead.
Northwestern State responded by scoring the next three points to take its first lead of the match at 9-8. While Southeastern would regain the lead at 11-10 following a block by Bennett and
Alexis Logarbo and another NSU attack error, it was the Demons that stretched open a bit of a lead by scoring five of the next six points to go up 15-12 at the media timeout.
The Lady Lions closed the deficit down to one out of the break as
Kyra McKelvey and Brewer both scored kills to make it 15-14. However, NSU scored three of the next four to reopen a three-point edge at 18-15.
That's where Southeastern found its rhythm as a kill by Bennett started a run of four-straight Lady Lions points and a kill by Logarbo gave SLU the lead back at 19-18. NSU tied the score back up at 19-19, but it was all Lady Lions from there as Southeastern scored six of the set's last seven points with a kill by Bennett on SLU's second set point giving the Lady Lions a 25-20 win and a 1-0 lead in the match, completing the 10-2 run.
Hidalgo started the scoring in the second set, but Northwestern State would jump ahead early at 3-2. SLU answered with three-straight to go up 5-3 on a kill by Beverly, but had a response of its own, scoring four-straight to go back up 7-5.
That's where the Lady Lions took control of the second set as back-to-back kills by Brewer began a run of six-straight Southeastern points. McKelvey and Brewer added kills during the run while Brewer ended the spurt with a solo block which made it 11-7 SLU.
Southeastern controlled the rest of the action from there, growing the lead up to seven points at 22-15 on a kill by Hidalgo. The two teams sided each other out over the set's final six points with Hidalgo ending it on the second set point with a kill for a 25-18 score and a 2-0 lead in the match.
With the third set tied 2-2, a kill by Hidalgo and an ace by Gonzalez opened a 4-2 lead, one the Lady Lions would not relinquish for the rest of the contest.
Leading 7-6, a kill by Bennett started a run of six-straight SLU points to open a gap that could not be closed again by NSU. Bennett followed her kill with a solo block which was then followed by a Logarbo kill, a block by Bennett and Logarbo, an ace by Duplechein, and another Bennett kill which made the score 13-6.
NSU would get as close as three points the rest of the way, hitting that mark at 16-13 at the end of a 3-0 Demon run, but a serve error kicked off Southeastern's closing run as SLU scored nine of the match's final 11 points. Leading 22-15, a kill by Brewer, an ace by Duplechein, and another Brewer kill ended the set with a 25-15 score and completed the sweep to end the regular season.
With the regular season now complete, attention turns to the 2024 Southland Conference Volleyball Championship and earning an automatic berth into the NCAA Division I Volleyball Championship Tournament. Southeastern, the top-seed, will begin its run to that goal on Friday night in the quarterfinal round against the 8-seed, East Texas A&M. Opening serve of Friday's quarterfinal match against the Southland's other Lions (10-18, 7-9 SLC) is set for 7 p.m. in the University Center. The 2024 Southland Conference Volleyball Championship, hosted by Southeastern at the University Center, will be televised in its entirety on ESPN+ with live stats also available through the SLC and StatBroadcast.
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.
