HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University Volleyball team will look to continue its three-match winning streak at home where the Lions will welcome McNeese and Nicholls to the University Center Thursday and Saturday.
 
After winning its last three Southland Conference matchups, SLU (6-11, 3-1 SLC) is set to host two in-state SLC opponents in the Cowgirls and the Colonels. The Lions face off with McNeese (5-10, 1-3 SLC) at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, before taking on Nicholls (8-9, 1-3 SLC) at 12 p.m. on Saturday.
 
This week's matches will be televised on ESPN+. Fans can also listen to all the Southeastern action locally on KSLU 90.9 The Lion and worldwide online at either www.LionSports.net/listenlive or www.LionUpRadio.org, or via the following apps – the Lions Gameday Experience and MyTuner Radio.
 
Both of the Lions' home matches will include gameday promotions. Thursday's match against McNeese will be Pink Out night. Fans are encouraged to wear pink at the game to help support breast cancer awareness. Saturday's match against Nicholls will be Alumni Day. Southeastern is inviting its fans to the match, where it will welcome back its former Lions to the University Center.
 
Southeastern delivered back-to-back wins last week, earning road victories over Northwestern State and East Texas A&M. The Lions' matches this week will be the first home matches for SLU since its previous home contest on Sept. 15, with the team coming off a seven-contest road swing.
 
Following two straight 18-kill performances, Kyra McKelvey brought home her fourth career SLC Offensive Player of the Week award. The senior has tallied 59 kills over her last three matches, including 23 kills in the Lions' five-set win at Lamar. The Navarre, Fla. native owns the fourth-best kills-per-set average in the conference (.372).
 
During SLU's win streak, Ashley Richardson has recorded three straight double-doubles, totaling 86 assists and 34 digs along the way. The junior has notched six double-doubles in 13 matches in 2026. Brea Payne and Lindsey Wickersham also posted double figures in Saturday's win over East Texas A&M. Payne finished the win with 11 digs, while Wickersham ended the sweep with a team-high 16 digs.
 
After dropping their first three SLC matches, the Cowgirls got back in the win column with a 3-0 sweep at Lamar on Saturday. Ava Henry has been McNeese's most consistent hitter, owning the fourth-best hitting percentage in the league (.336). Statistically, Sophia Tocmo has been the best libero in the SLC, averaging the most digs per set (5.37) of any student-athlete in the league. As a team, McNeese has averaged the second-most kills per set (12.57) and assists per set (11.63) in the Southland.
 
Nicholls also earned a 3-0 win at Lamar last week, doing so on Thursday. The Colonels fell to SFA, 3-0, in their most recent match. Nicholls has the top two hitters in the conference, with Harper Holden (.405) and Maya Schirmer (.365) holding the two-best hitting percentages. Isabella Padilla's 6.68 assists-per-set mark ranks fifth in the SLC. With the second-best aces-per-set average (0.47) in the conference, Madison Smith has 15 assists in 32 sets this season.
 
Next week, SLU will visit UIW (5-8, 3-1 SLC) in San Antonio, Texas, for a match on Wednesday, Oct. 14, at 6 p.m. The week will end in Hammond, America, where the Lions will host HCU (2-14, 0-4 SLC) in the University Center on Saturday, Oct. 17, at 12 p.m. The pair of matches will be televised on ESPN+.
 
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
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