HAMMOND, La. – The back-to-back Southland Conference Regular Season Champion Southeastern Louisiana University volleyball team will begin its run for a third-straight SLC Tournament Championship on Friday by taking on East Texas A&M in the quarterfinal round at the University Center.
 
The top-seeded Lady Lions (24-4) will take on the SLC's other Lions (10-18), who earned the tournament's eight seed, at 7 p.m. Friday quarterfinal round. The winner advances to Saturday's 5 p.m. semifinal to take on the winner of the match between the four-seed Texas-Rio Grande Valley (16-10) and five-seed Incarnate Word (16-10). The Championship match is set for 3 p.m. on Sunday. All matches of the 2024 Southland Conference Volleyball Championship will be played at the University Center and will be televised in its entirety on ESPN+ with live stats for all matches also available through the Southland Conference on StatBroadcast.
 
Southeastern rolled through the Southland in the regular season, finishing undefeated in SLC play for the first time since joining the conference. But for SLU, winning the Southland regular season title is just a tune-up for ultimate goal, winning the tournament on its home floor and winning a third-straight trip to the NCAA Division I Volleyball Championship Tournament, which would also represent the third appearance in program history should it occur.
 
SLU relied on the newly-minted SLC Player of the Year to clinch its second-straight SLC regular season championship. Cicily Hidalgo, who also earned her second berth on the All-Southland Conference First Team, finished the regular season averaging 4.32 points per set, knocking down 3.63 kills per set with a .271 attack percentage while also getting 35 service aces and 60 blocks on the season.
 
Joining Hidalgo on the all-conference teams were India Bennett and Kyra McKelvey, both of which were on the Second Team. Bennett earned her spot with her defensive prowess as the SLC's top blocker. She averaged 2.45 points per set and was in the conference's top-10 of hitting percentage at .357 on the year, getting 1.59 kills per set. But at the net is where she shined, getting 139 total blocks on the year, 21 solo, which gave her 1.49 blocks per set which was the best in the Southland.
 
McKelvey made her name on the year as a force off the bench for the Lady Lions. She averaged 2.64 points per set on a .313 attack percentage while being part of 32 total blocks. She earned recognition following her 21-kill performance against Stephen F. Austin in Southeastern's five-set win over the Ladyjacks in the University Center.
 
Hannah Brewer is SLU's second-highest scorer this season, averaging 3.05 points per set with a 2.38 kills per set average while her 39 service aces was one of the top numbers in the conference. Her move to the outside early in the season pulled her away from the block, but she still ended up with 46 total blocks on the year.
 
Alexis Logarbo also made a run for postseason honors, finishing the year with 2.41 points per set on a 2.02 kills per set average on a .265 attack percentage. She ended the year with 77 total blocks, the third-most on the team.
 
Keira Beverly Averaged 2.28 points per set, scoring 1.68 kills per set with a .306 attack percentage and had seven service aces. She was second on the team at the net with 90 total blocks.
 
Southeastern's offense went through Gracie Duplechein and Ashley Richardson. Duplechein averaged 5.97 assists per set with 18 service aces while Richardson averaged 5.45 assists per set and had 19 service aces.
 
On the back line, Lexi Gonzalez commanded the defense with 3.39 digs per set while getting 80 total assists, a kill, and 23 service aces on the year.
 
The Lady Lions won the 2022 SLC Tournament as the two-seed, taking advantage of playing in the University Center to knock off McNeese in the semifinal and then Houston Christian in the Championship. In the 2023 edition of the Tournament, held in Corpus Christi, Texas, SLU entered as the number one seed and knocked off Houston Christian in the semifinal before defeating Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the final.
 
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.