SLU drops heartbreaker to Idaho in 5

Published 11:13 am Monday, September 20, 2021

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The Southeastern Louisiana University volleyball team dropped its third five-set match of the weekend in the Jackrabbit Invitational presented by the Super 8 of Brookings, coming up short against Idaho, 26-24, 25-20, 11-25, 17-25, 15-11, Saturday at Frost Arena.

SLU (0-10) led the opener late, 23-21, before the Vandals (3-6) scored five of the final six points of the set. The Lady Lions once again led late in the second set, 19-13, before Idaho scored 12 of the final 13 points to build a two-set advantage.

Southeastern bounced back in the third set, hitting a blistering .571 on the attack (17 kills, 1 error). 17 more team kills in the fourth. In the fifth and deciding set, SLU hit .400 but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Idaho offensive attack.

The combined .299 attack percentage for the match was a season-high for the Lady Lions.

Directing the offensive attack, setter Gracie Duplechein handed out a career-high 59 assists. The total number of helpers by the freshman from St. Amant, Louisiana was the most by a Southeastern player since Lindsey Young dished out 58 assists against Southern on Sept. 16, 2010.

For the second time in two days, Cicily Hidalgo also set a career-high with 25 kills. The freshman from Opelousas, Louisiana joined Karlee Wilkerson (17), Crispin Adams (14) and Addie Vidrine (10) with double-digit kill totals.

Defensive specialist Calli Collins, a sophomore from Columbus, Texas, served up a career-high five aces, doubling her season total.

Adams, a preseason All-Conference selection, and freshman Hannah Haerer both had a hand in six of Southeastern’s 12 total blocks.

Ansley Tullis led all players with 22 digs. Duplechein added 13, recording her fifth double-double of the season, and Jolie Hidalgo chipped in 10 digs.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

Cicily Hidalgo – Southeastern

Delaney Nicoll – Idaho

Carly Wedel – South Dakota State

Crystal Burk – South Dakota State

Maddie Holt – Drake

Ashlynn Kuhn – Drake

Mariana Rodrigues – Drake (MVP)

UP NEXT

Southeastern wraps up its nonconference scheduled Tuesday with a 6 p.m. match at Southern Miss. Originally schedule for Hammond, Louisiana, the match was moved to Hattiesburg, Mississippi in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida.

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 or @JWhiteSLU on Twitter, @LionUpVB on Instagram, like /SLUathletics on Facebook and subscribe to the SLUathletics YouTube channel.