HAMMOND, La. – The reigning, back-to-back Southland Conference regular season champion Southeastern Louisiana University volleyball team kicks off the stretch of eight-straight matches away from Hammond, heading to Arkansas to take part in the Central Arkansas Invitational Friday and Saturday.
 
Southeastern (3-0) will take on Little Rock (2-1) at 11 a.m. on Friday before wrapping up the event Saturday at 12 p.m. against the host, Central Arkansas (0-2) with all matches of the Central Arkansas Invitational being played in the Prince Center. The match against UCA will be televised on ESPN+ while live stats will be available for both matches.
 
The Lady Lions enter the weekend looking to build off of a successful weekend at home, winning all three matches of the Southeastern Showdown in the University Center.
 
Due to her play during those three matches, Kyra McKelvey was named the season's first Southland Conference Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week. McKelvey was a .484 hitter over the weekend, the best hitting percentage in the SLC after the first weekend of action, with a 3.64 kill per set average, second best in the Southland.
 
Two Lady Lions currently lead the Southland in terms of hitting percentage with Ayla Klingenberg currently sitting second in the SLC, behind McKelvey, after she hit .424 over the weekend. SLU has two others in the top-10 of the SLC in hitting after the opening weekend with Alexis Logarbo in eighth with after hitting .309 while India Bennett is ninth at .300 after three matches.
 
After leading the conference in blocks a season ago, Bennett picked up right where she left off to start 2025, getting 20 blocks over the three matches at the Southeastern Showdown for a 1.82 blocks per set average, leading the conference in both.
 
As a team, Southeastern hit .254 overall to start the season last weekend while holding their three opponents to a .152 attack percentage
 
Little Rock also had a successful start to their season as the Trojans made the trip to Commerce, Texas to take on North Texas, the host and fellow SLC institution East Texas A&M, and Providence, winning two out of three at the Lion Invitational.
 
The Trojans will bring in the Ohio Valley Conference's Offensive Player of the Week with them to Conway after A'lanae Margaritha earned the honor for her play over the weekend at ETAMU. She averaged 4.15 points per set while getting 3.54 kills per set on a .513 hitting percentage in the three matches.
 
Bella Cherry matched Margaritha's output in kills, also averaging 3.54 per set, but only hit at a .173 clip, though she did add five service aces to her stat line while in Commerce.
 
Jaycee Kennedy and Margaritha both finished the Lion Invitational with 14 blocks, a 1.08 block per set average. Crismeyli Rodriguez added 12 blocks for the Trojans as well, a 0.92 block per set average.
 
The Trojans hit .195 as a team during the Lion Invitational on their way to wins over East Texas A&M and Providence after suffering a season-opening loss to North Texas. Little Rock's opponents hit .188 against them during the first three matches of the year.
 
Central Arkansas had a tough start to its season, dropping both of its matches at the Rice Invitational I. The Sugar Bears had a top-10 ranked team on the ropes in its season opener, winning the second and third sets to take a 2-1 lead over #10 Texas A&M, but the Aggies would win the fourth and fifth sets to take the match, 3-2. UCA was then swept by the Owls to end their opening weekend of the season.
 
Laci Bohannan was the top threat for the Sugar Bears during the opening weekend, averaging 3.38 points per set while getting 2.88 kills per set on a .206 attack percentage. Bohannan contributed on the defensive side as well, averaging 2.13 digs per set and added five blocks.
 
McKinzee Haas led the block with 10 stuffs in the two matches at Rice, a 1.25 block per set average.
 
Caylan Koons, UCA's setter, had the most aces for UCA in Houston over the weekend with two.
 
The Sugar Bears ended the two matches with a .143 attack percentage while allowing their opponents to hit .280.
 
Following the weekend in Conway, Ark., Southeastern will head to Mobile, Ala. to take part in the Jaguar Invitational at South Alabama where the Lady Lions will face the host Jaguars and Tulane.
 
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 on Twitter, @LionUpVB on Instagram, like /SLUathletics on Facebook and subscribe to the SLUathletics YouTube channel.
 
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