HAMMOND – The Southeastern Louisiana volleyball team will close out the regular season this week, facing a pair of Southland Conference rivals on the road.
The Lady Lions (8-17, 4-10 SLC) will face Stephen F. Austin (20-12, 9-5 SLC) on Thursday at 7 p.m. with live stats available at www.sfajacks.com. On Saturday, Southeastern closes out the regular season at McNeese State (17-11, 5-9 SLC) at 2 p.m. Live stats will be available at www.mcneesesports.com.
Southeastern heads into the final week mathematically alive for the last Southland Conference Tournament berth. The Lady Lions are in with two wins or a win and a pair of losses by Nicholls.
Senior
Jessica Srajer leads the Lady Lions with 2.44 kills per set, followed by junior
Allison Jones (2.37), senior
Lauren Mayer (1.94), freshman
Taylor Buckner (1.88) and freshman
Courtney Donald (1.76). Sophomore
Arianne Cruckshank and senior
Katie Collins are the team’s top setters, averaging 8.04 and 6.38 assists per set, respectively.
Junior
Alex Greer is the team’s top defender, averaging 4.20 digs per set. Mayer (2.73), Buckner (2.44) and Cruckshank (2.19) are the other top performers in that category for the Lady Lions. Senior
Julie Elliott leads the team with 47 blocks, followed by Donald (39), freshman
Alexis Braghini (35) and Srajer (34).
Stephen F. Austin features a balanced offense as Kelsey Owens leads the team with 2.79 kills per set, followed by Ashley Bailey (2.62), Mary Caitlin Bottles (2.53) and Arielle Daron (2.18). Paloma Buckner leads the team with 8.57 assists per set. Madison Hanlan paces the Ladyjack defense with 4.24 digs per set, while Bailey and Bottles lead the team with 143 and 115 blocks per set, respectively.
In the first meeting between the teams back on Oct. 10 in Hammond, Srajer had a match-high 13 kills, but four Ladyjacks had four double-digit kill performances on the way to a 31-29, 25-21, 20-25, 25-20 victory over the Lady Lions.
Priscilla Massengale (3.07 kills per set), Chanel Tyler (2.96 kills per set) and Sarah Cartie (9.51 assists per set) lead the way for McNeese State on offense. Whitney Ellisor (3.76 digs per set) and Nicole Bowden (105 blocks) are the top Cowgirl defenders.
Donald (13 kills) and Srajer (12 kills) led the Lady Lions in an 18-25, 25-12, 25-22, 25-18 loss to the Cowgirls on Oct. 8 in Hammond. Massengale countered the strong performance by the Southeastern duo with a match-high 16 kills in the first meeting between the two in-state rivals.