Match 11 | Southeastern (6-4) vs. Florida A&M (7-3)
Sept. 20, 2024 | 11 a.m. | Earl K. Long Gym (1,121) | Lafayette, La.
Series History: Southeastern leads, 2-1
Last Meeting: Florida A&M 3, Southeastern 1 (23-25, 25-20, 25-14, 25-15) (Sept. 2, 2016 – Mobile, Ala.)
Television: None
 
Match 12 | Southeastern (6-4) vs. Jacksonville State (7-3)
Sept. 20, 2024 | 3 p.m. | Earl K. Long Gym (1,121) | Lafayette, La.
Series History: Southeastern leads, 6-2
Last Meeting: Jacksonville State 3, Southeastern 0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-20) (Aug. 31, 2019 – Jacksonville, Ala.)
Television: None

HAMMOND, La. – The reigning, two-time Southland Conference Champion Southeastern Louisiana University volleyball team ends the non-conference portion of its schedule on Friday, taking on both Florida A&M and Jacksonville State as part of the Ragin' Cajuns Classic in the Earl K. Long Gym on the campus of the University of Louisiana – Lafayette.
 
The match between the Lady Lions (6-4) and Rattlers (7-3) will start at 11 a.m. while opening serve against the Gamecocks (7-3) is set for 3 p.m. in Lafayette. Neither match will be televised, but live stats will be available through the host institution.
 
Southeastern has won six-straight matches following a straight-sets win over UL-Lafayette on Tuesday night in Hammond, America. Cicily Hidalgo had 15 kills in Tuesday's win over the Ragin' Cajuns, continuing to move her up the career kills list, currently sitting fifth but enters Friday's action just 10 kills away from taking over fourth-place. Gracie Duplechein, who had 20 assists against ULL on Tuesday, has moved into a tie for the fourth-most assists in program history, sitting even with Mikayla Shippy at 2,594 career assists.
 
Hidalgo is the leader of the Southeastern attack, scoring 3.72 points per set while getting 3.26 kills per set. After a slow start to the season, her attack percentage has flown up during the current win streak to .218 on the year. She's also gotten five of her serves to fall for aces and contributed 21 total blocks on the year. Hidalgo also leads the team in digs with 2.87 digs per set.
 
Keira Beverly is setting into her roll on this SLU squad, now averaging 2.52 points per set with 1.81 kills per set on a .367 attack percentage, but doing much of her work on the block with 35 total blocks this season now as a back-to-back winner of the Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Week award due to her work at the net.
 
Alexis Logarbo is the next best scorer for the Lady Lions, averaging 2.43 points per set on 2.08 kills per set with a .284 attack percentage while also being one of the team's top players on the block with 25 total blocks this season. Southeastern's top blocker is India Bennett, who's had a hand in rejecting 41 opponent attacks for Lady Lion points.
 
Ashley Richardson has 10 service aces to lead the team on the serve, but right behind her are Hannah Brewer and Lexi Gonzalez with nine each. Duplechein leads the team in assists at 5.27 per set while Richardson has 4.89 assists per set.
 
Florida A&M will see its fourth-straight Southland Conference opponent when it faces off with SLU on Friday. The Rattlers defeated Incarnate Word in four sets, but fell to McNeese in straight sets at the McNeese Tournament last weekend. The next day, FAMU went to New Orleans and took down the Privateers in three sets to wrap up their weekend 2-1 against those SLC foes.
 
In the win over UNO, the Rattlers were led on the attack by Brooke Lynn Watts and Jada Rhodes, who each had 10 kills with Rhodes picking up a double-double with 10 digs while also picking up four service aces and two blocks as well.
 
Watts is FAMU's top scorer at 4.32 points per set, collecting 3.62 kills per set and is the team's leader in service aces with 17, one of four Rattlers with 10 or more aces this season. The other three FAMU players with double-digit aces are Rhodes with 16, Alexandra Koleva with 12, and Tinons Galmés with 10.
 
Brookelynn Thomas is the next best scorer at 3.59 points per set on 3.15 kills per set and a .285 attack percentage. Koleva is the top setter with 5.94 assists per set. Isis Williams leads the FAMU block with 38 total blocks this season while Galmés leads the Rattler back line with 3.46 digs per set.
 
Jax State will open the Ragin' Cajuns Classic on Thursday night against the host, Louisiana-Lafayette, looking to start a new win streak after the Gamecocks ended a two-match losing streak on Saturday by finishing the North Alabama Tournament with a five-set win over the hosts, UNA.
 
In the win over the UNA Lions, the Gamecocks got a team-high 11 kills from Caty Havekost while Hana Aiana scored 10 kills. Kayla Williams and Brooklyn Schiffli each had two service aces while former McNeese Cowgirl Sanni Rantanen had three blocks.
 
Williams is Jax State's leading scorer, averaging 4.46 points per set and 3.83 kills per set on a .207 attack percentage. She also has a team-best 21 service aces on the season and seven total blocks. Havekost is the next top scorer with 2.96 points per set, putting down 2.63 kills per set on a .200 attack percentage.
 
Aside from Williams, four other Gamecocks have 10 or more service aces on the season. Luci Wilkinson has 13, Rantanen has 12, and Schiffli has 10.
 
Ellie Garrett, who is one ace away from joining her teammates with double-digit aces, is the team's top setter, averaging 9.63 assists per set.
 
Rantanen is the team's top blocker on the season with 31 while Garrett has 29, Aiana has 26, and Moseley has 20.
 
Schiffli leads the Jax State back line with 4.05 digs per set while Wilkinson gets down for 3.15 digs per set this season.
 
Friday's matches mark the end of non-conference action for the Lady Lions this season with Southland Conference play starting next Thursday, in the University Center, against Lamar.
 
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.