NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The Southeastern Louisiana University Volleyball team started Southland Conference play with a loss to Stephen F. Austin, 25-17, 25-23, 25-20, in Shelton Gym Thursday.
In its first Southland match of the season, SLU (3-11, 0-1 in SLC) fell to the 2025 conference champion Ladyjacks (7-7, 1-0 in SLC) on the road. After SFA took a commanding lead to start the match, the Lions clawed back into the first set with a 10-4 run. SLU went kill-for-kill with Stephen F. Austin, but the home team managed to hold off the visiting Lions.
Carissa Young led the Lions on the offensive side, posting a career-high nine kills with a .462 attack percentage. The senior also added a career-high four blocks to put together one of the best matches of her collegiate career.
Ainsley Driska,
Keira Beverly, and
Kyra McKelvey recorded six kills each. Beverly's .500 hitting percentage was the top mark for SLU.
Defensively, Driska ended the contest with six blocks to tie the match-high mark.
Ashley Richardson (17) and
Brea Payne (14) both notched double-digit assists.
Gracie Mann's 10 digs and two service aces paced the team.
SFA's Jordan Henderson recorded a match-leading 11 kills. Katherine Holtman and Avery Koonsen ended Thursday with nine kills apiece. Aniston Collins and Madi Zorn combined for 37 assists, tallying 19 and 18, respectively. Caroline Kahle totaled a dozen digs to lead all players. Kyanna Creecy also posted six blocks to tie Driska's mark.
The Lions will end the first week of conference play with a trip to Beaumont, Texas, to face Lamar (4-10, 1-0 in SLC). First serve of Saturday's match against the Cardinals is set for 1 p.m. at McDonald Gym.
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 Lions Volleyball, follow @LionUpVB on X and Instagram or like /SLUathletics on Facebook.
