Lady Lions defend against comeback with five-set win over UIW

HAMMOND, La. – The ruler, Southeastern Louisiana University's two-time Southland Conference champion volleyball team had to fend off a fierce comeback attempt from Incarnate Word for the 19th time^Th-Straight Southland Conference win, but big games over Cicily Hidalgo And Hannah Brewer helped secure a five-set victory over the Cardinals 3-2 (25-12, 25-15, 23-25, 22-25, 15-12) on Saturday afternoon at the University Center.

Hidalgo finished the match with 23 kills, the most she has recorded in a match since her 24-kill performance against the then-Houston Baptist Huskies in October 2021. That moved her to third place on the SLU career kills list. surpassed the former teammate Kailin Newsomeand is currently at 1,175. She also had her seventh double-double of the year by also recording 16 digs, while her four block assists along with her kill total gave her a total of 25 points in the match.

Two days after setting a new career high in kills, Hannah Brewer Reset it again by counting 16 kills on Saturday. She also recorded her third double-double of the season with 24 digs, another career high for the senior from Benton, Arkansas. With her 16 kills plus two service aces and one block assist, Brewer finished the match with 18.5 points, surpassing another career high she set Thursday in the match against Lamar.

Alexis Logarbo came into the game late and finished with 13 kills and one block assist for 13.5 points Kyra McKelvey She also found her rhythm on offense, recording 11 kills for an attack percentage of .409, which accounted for her total points total.

Ashley Richardson And Gracie Duplechein Both set season highs in assists with 34 and 33, respectively. Duplechein had two service aces while Richardson added another ace. Lexi González also had two aces, tying Brewer's team-high digs total of 24. India Bennett Hidalgo joined Hidalgo as a team leader in blocks and also collected four block assists.

Southeastern (10-4, 2-0 SLC) started fast, scoring on four of the first five rallies early in the game and never looked back, Hidalgo and Bennett combining on a block for an early 4-1 lead. At 8-5, a kill from Logarbo led to a streak of three consecutive SLU points, with an ace from Brewer giving the Lady Lions an 11-5 lead.

UIW (7-5, 0-2 SLC) rebounded by scoring four of the next five goals to get back within three points at 12-9, but the Lady Lions took complete control from there. A kill by Hidalgo started a streak of nine straight points for Southeastern, while Hidalgo capped the streak with another kill to give SLU a 21-9 lead. Seven rallies later, a UIW serve missed the mark and the Lady Lions won the first set 25-12 and took a 1-0 lead.

It was the Cardinals who enjoyed the early advantage in the second set and took a 5-3 lead. After the two teams traded points to make it 6-4, Southeastern's offense got going as a kill from McKelvey sparked a 10-1 SLU run and a kill from Brewer made it 14-7 led.

The Lady Lion's lead reached nine points when Brewer's serve dropped for an ace and an 18-9 Southeast lead. UIW tried to get back into the game, scoring four of the next five points, but SLU answered every run the Cardinals tried to muster in the final period. A kill from McKelvey on set point gave the Lady Lions a 25-15 win in the second set and a 2-0 lead in the game.

Just like in the second set, UIW opened the third set by scoring five of the first eight points to grab an early lead. A kill from McKelvey seemed to put Southeastern on the right foot as SLU scored four of the next five goals to take a 7-6 lead.

But instead of pulling away, the Lady Lions and Cardinals traded points and short runs back and forth throughout the remainder of the set, which was tied at 17. The third and final lead change of the set went in UIW's favor, breaking a 23-23 deadlock and was the second of three consecutive points scored by the Cardinals to tie the third with a 25-23 score in UIW's favor to end and thus extend the match to a fourth set and gave SLU its first set defeat after 17 consecutive wins.

After trailing 3-2 to start the fourth period, SLU once again seemed poised to pull out ahead and secure the win when an attack error by the Cardinals sparked a streak of four straight Lady Lion points, part of one The larger 7-1 series in the Southeast resulted in a 9-4 lead after a kill from McKelvey.

UIW responded immediately by scoring the next six points and regaining the lead 10-9. From then on, it looked like a repeat of the third set with the two teams going on short runs as the two teams swapped the lead five times during the frame and it was tied nine times. With SLU leading 15-14, UIW began to find its feet, scoring six of the next seven goals and building a four-point lead at 20-16. The Cardinals fended off SLU's every attempt to go for a run, and a serve error by Southeastern at set point gave UIW a 25-22 win in the fourth set and forced a deciding fifth set.

After UIW increased the scoring to 15 points in the sprint, a kill from Logarbo started a streak of four straight SLU points, with a setter error by the Cardinals giving the Lady Lions a 3-1 lead.

UIW battled back as the Cardinals went on a 5-1 run from a 4-2 deficit to take a 7-5 lead. Back-to-back kills from Brewer tied the score at 7-7, but a Cardinal block followed and the two teams switched sides, with UIW ahead 8-7. UIW added another point after transition on an error by Lady Lion to take a 9-7 lead, but a service error by Cardinal and a kill by Logarbo evened the score back at 9-9.

The Cardinals regained the lead at 10-9 with a kill, but that would have been UIW's last lead of the game as kills from Brewer and Logarbo gave SLU an 11-10 lead. UIW tied the score at 11-11 on a kill, but Southeastern took control when, following kills from Hidalgo and Logarbo, Bennett and Hidalgo combined to fend off a Cardinal attack and put the Lady Lions on match point. UIW fended off a match point, but Hidalgo tallied the second and scored a kill for the final point of the match, giving Southeastern the win.

The Lady Lions face a quick turnaround as SLU will make the quick trip down I-55 for a date with New Orleans on Tuesday. Opening serve of Tuesday's game against the Privateers (2-11, 0-1 SLC) is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at the UNO Human Performance Center.

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 graduates are encouraged to join the exclusive S Club, limited to Southeastern Athletic Letter winners.

All membership dues and donations for both the Diggin' It Club and S Club (Volleyball) are for the exclusive use of the Southeastern Volleyball program. For membership information, contact the Lion Athletics Association at [email protected] or (985) 549-5091 or visit www.LionUp.com.

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