RUSTON, La. – The reigning
, two-time Southland Conference Champion Southeastern Louisiana University volleyball team extended its current win streak to five matches by defeating both Southern (25-14, 25-12, 22-25, 25-18) and Louisiana Tech (23-25, 25-18, 25-20, 25-11) by identical 3-1 scores to sweep its two matches in the Battle for the Boot Friday afternoon at the Thomas Assembly Center.
Match 1 – Southeastern 3, Southern 1 (25-14, 25-12, 22-25, 25-18)
Southeastern found itself in an early 2-0 hole to open the match against Southern, but quickly got in front as
Hannah Brewer scored a kill which kicked off a five-point Lady Lion run with
Kibi Huggins ending it with a kill of her own to give SLU a 5-2 lead, one Southeastern would not relinquish for the rest of the set. Leading 9-8, a kill by
Keira Beverly started another set of five-straight SLU points, part of what would eventually become a 12-2 Lady Lion run as a Jaguar attack error gave Southeastern a 21-10 lead after seven-straight Lady Lion points. Eight rallies later, another Jaguar attack failed to stay in play, giving SLU a 25-14 set victory to go up 1-0 in the match.
Gracie Duplechein opened the second set with a service ace, but again it was Southern who held the early edge by scoring the next three in a row and five out of six to open a 5-2 lead before a
Cicily Hidalgo attack drew a Jaguar player into the net for the kill and Lady Lion point. That was the first of four-straight Lady Lion points with Huggins and
India Bennett combining to block back a Southern attack to give Southeastern a 6-5 lead. The next seven rallies saw the two teams trade side-outs until Southern put two points together to take a 10-9 lead, but that's where the Lady Lions put together a large run. A Jaguar attack missed the court for a Lady Lion point, the first of 14-straight rallies won by Southeastern with a Beverly kill putting SLU up 23-10. Four rallies later, Beverly ended the set with a kill, giving Southeastern a 25-12 set win and a 2-0 lead in the match.
Set three was as even as possible with neither team holding more than a one-point lead until Southern scored three-straight points to take a 17-14 lead. The Lady Lions battled back as, trailing 21-19, SLU scored three of the next four points to tie it up as an
Alexis Logarbo kill made it 22-22. But Southern scored the next three points to claim the third set, 25-22, and force a fourth set.
The momentum from winning the third set continued for Southern into the fourth as the Jaguars scored on seven of the first eight rallies to take a 7-1 lead. But, trailing 8-2, a kill by Hidalgo seemed to wake up the Southeastern attack as the Lady Lions scored nine on of the next 10 rallies to claim an 11-9 lead as an attack by Logarbo drew a Jaguar defender into the net for the kill. Southern went on a three-point push to reclaim the lead at 13-12 and again at 14-13, but that's where SLU took over the set. A Southern serve didn't get in play, starting a run of five Lady Lion points in a row, part of a larger 9-1 Southeastern run as another Hidalgo kill made it 22-15 SLU. Six rallies later, the match was over as Bennett slapped down the ball on match point for the kill, giving the Lady Lions the 3-1 win.
Hidalgo led all scorers for Southeastern with 13.5 points, tallying 11 kills, an ace, and three block assists in the opener. She also picked up her fourth double-double of the year with 14 digs. Brewer tallied 11 points with nine kills, a service ace, and two block assists while also collecting 12 digs. Duplechein ended the match with three service aces and 27 assists to lead the team in both categories. Bennett led the Lady Lions with five block assists to go with seven kills.
Southeastern finished the match with 47 kills on 146 total attacks with 17 errors for a hit percentage of .205. The Lady Lions also tallied seven service aces as a team and eight total blocks. The SLU defense held Southern (1-7) to a .000 attack percentage in the first set and a -.025 attack percentage in the second before the Jaguars rebounded to finish with a .055 attack percentage overall at the match's conclusion as Southern scored 39 kills on 163 total attacks with 30 errors. The Jaguars scored three service aces and blocked back five SLU attacks.
Match 2 – Southeastern 3, Louisiana Tech 1 (23-25, 25-18, 25-20, 25-11)
Using the homecourt advantage as the event's host this year, Louisiana Tech started fast in the first set, jumping out to a 4-1 lead. The Bulldogs held Southeastern off, even as SLU continually pulled back within a point. The Lady Lions finally got the score equalized again at 12-12 as an attack by Hidalgo drew a Bulldog into the net for the kill. It would take several more rallies before SLU could claim the lead as another Hidalgo kill put the Lady Lions ahead at 16-15. Southeastern's biggest lead of the set came off the hand of Huggins as her kill put SLU up by two, 20-18. Louisiana Tech scored four of the next five to get the lead back before a Beverly kill tied the score back up at 22-22. It was the Bulldogs that took the advantage back though, scoring the next two points to get onto set point. A Hidalgo kill fought off the first set point, but the Bulldogs finished the set on their second crack at it, taking the first set, 25-23, and lead in the match, 1-0.
The Lady Lions jumped ahead in the second set as Bennett and Huggins blocked back a Louisiana Tech attack to go up 4-2 in the early going. Leading 7-5, a Bulldog service error started a four-point Southeastern run which included two kills by Brewer and a block by Beverly and Logarbo to make it 11-5 Lady Lions. After trading points to make it 12-6, Louisiana Tech scored the next six to even the score at 12-12 before Logarbo tallied to kill to end the run. With the set tied at 15-15, a kill by Bennett started a push of five-straight Lady Lion points with a Huggins kill putting SLU up 20-15. The Bulldogs responded by scoring three of the next four points, but the Lady Lions had a finish in them, scoring the set's final four points with Brewer dropping a service ace down on set point to give Southeastern the set win at 25-18 and tying the match at 1-1.
Louisiana Tech scored the first two points of the third set, but back-to-back kills by Logarbo evened things right back up. The Bulldogs scored the next two to go back up at 4-2, but a Hidalgo kill started a 4-0 run by the Lady Lions as a kill by Bennett made it 6-4 SLU. That was the start of a much bigger run by Southeastern, one that reached 12-3 as a kill by Beverly had SLU doubling up the Bulldogs at 14-7. Louisiana Tech scored the next three to make it 14-10, but the Lady Lions had an answer each time the Bulldogs tried to string points together. A Logarbo kill started a push of four points out of five for the Lady Lions, turning a 20-16 lead into a set point situation as a Bennett kill made it 24-17. The Bulldogs fought off three set points, but Brewer ended that run with a kill which ended the set at 25-20 in Southeastern's favor, giving the Lady Lions a 2-1 lead in the match.
The Bulldogs struck first in the fourth set, but a kill by Hidalgo started a 5-1 SLU run with a kill by Bennett giving Southeastern a 5-2 edge. Leading 6-4, Brewer scored a kill that started the avalanche which Louisiana Tech could not stop as the Lady Lions scored three-straight to make it 9-4. Leading 10-6, a Logarbo kill started an 8-1 run that got SLU up double-digits as a kill by Bennett made it 18-7 SLU. After Louisiana Tech took two of the next three rallies to make it 19-9, SLU made sure the Bulldogs would not be able to get back into the set by scoring the next three points which extended out to a match-ending 6-2 Lady Lion run. Brewer put the Lady Lions on match point with a kill, and ended it with another kill on the very next rally to secure the match victory with a 25-11 set win.
Hidalgo picked up her fifth double-double of the season, and second of the day, with a match-high 18 kills to go with a team-high 15 digs. Brewer picked up her second double-double of the season by putting down 13 kills and 13 digs. She also had a team-high two service aces and a block assist to finish with 15.5 points in the match. Logarbo also scored 15.5 points against the Bulldogs, tallying 14 kills and three block assists. Bennett added 11 points in the match with 10 kills and two block assists. Duplechein tallied 32 assists to go with 14 digs as she also picked up her fifth double-double of the season and second of the day.
Ashley Richardson also had two double-doubles on the day, finishing the match with 25 assists and 14 digs.
Southeastern ended the match with 66 kills on 162 total attacks with 18 errors for a .296 attack percentage. SLU tallied three service aces and blocked back seven attacks for points. Louisiana Tech (3-5) finished the match with 45 kills on 162 total attacks and had 20 errors for a .154 attack percentage. The Bulldogs also scored three aces and blocked six attacks back for points.
The two wins on the day gave Southeastern head volleyball coach Jeremy White his 92
nd career win as the leader of the Lady Lion volleyball program, moving him into a tie with Marla Ferguson for the second-most wins by a coach in program history.
The Lady Lions (5-4) return home on Tuesday night, hosting Louisiana-Lafayette in Hammond, America. Opening serve of Tuesday's match against the Ragin' Cajuns (2-4) is set for 6 p.m. in the University Center. Prior to the start of the match, the 2023 Southland Conference Championship banner will be unveiled. The match will be televised on ESPN+ while a radio broadcast will also be 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.
