FRISCO, Texas – The back-to-back Southland Conference Regular Season Champion Southeastern Louisiana University volleyball team had three Lady Lions honored with postseason awards with Cicily Hidalgo named the SLC's Player of the Year and Jeremy White earning his second-straight Katrinka Jo Crawford award as the Coach of the Year while two others were named All-Conference, the SLC office announced on Wednesday.
 
Hidalgo was also named to the SLC's All-Conference First Team while India Bennett and Kyra McKelvey earned spots on the All-Conference Second Team.
 
White, in his sixth season as the Southeastern head coach, took home his third Katrinka Jo Crawford Award as the Southland's Coach of the Year making it back-to-back honors after winning the award last season as well. He won it the first time following the 2020 season. White has led the Lady Lions to 24-straight wins, the nation's longest active win streak, while going 16-0 in SLC play, the first time Southeastern has gone undefeated in conference play since joining the Southland. SLU finished the regular season having won 33-straight matches in SLC play, dating back to the second match of SLC play during the 2023 season.
 
Hidalgo, a senior from Opelousas, La., adds the Conference's Player of the Year to her fourth career All-Conference honor from the SLC, the second time she's ended the year on the First Team. In the 16-match SLC schedule, she averages 3.86 kills per set on a .296 attack percentage on her way to 4.72 points per set. That point per set mark was aided by Hidalgo having the SLC's sixth-best mark in service aces per set while also being the conference's best outside hitter at being involved in blocks. She also had the most digs among the conference's outside hitters. She was named the Conference's Offensive Player of the Week once this season. Hidalgo moved into second place in the SLU career kills list, closing out the 2024 regular season with 1,398 kills while in the green and gold. Being named Player of the Year caps a four-year career at SLU which started with her being named the SLC's Freshman of the Year in 2021.
 
Bennett, a redshirt sophomore from Prairieville, La., was a force to be reckoned with in the middle for the Lady Lions this season. During the 16-match SLC schedule, she averaged 1.64 blocks per set, while her 90 total blocks were 17 more than second place. Her .324 hitting percentage against the SLC was the eighth-best in the conference as she worked her way to a 1.69 kills per set average. She ended up averaging 2.64 points per set during SLC play. This is Bennett's first career All-Conference honor.
 
McKelvey, a sophomore from Navarre, Fla., also impressed as most got their first real good look at her play this season. She ended SLC play with the fourth-best hit percentage in the conference at .369 while scoring 2.56 kills per set, all off the bench, for SLU this season. She made her name with a 21-kill performance against Stephen F. Austin in the University Center on Nov. 2, a five-set win which put Southeastern in the driver's seat towards their second-straight SLC regular season championship. That week, McKelvey earned her first career SLC Offensive Player of the Week award, her lone one of the season. This is also McKelvey's first All-Conference honor.
 
The Lady Lions (24-4) are now gearing up for the 2024 Southland Conference Volleyball Championship, looking to win a third-straight SLC 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) 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.
 
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