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The Southeastern Louisiana University volleyball team opens Southland Conference play Saturday against Northwestern State at Prather Coliseum in Natchitoches, Louisiana.

SLU (1-10, 0-0 SLC) will face each conference opponent, including Northwestern State (6-9, 0-0 SLC), twice over the course of the fall slate. Earlier this spring, the Lady Lions defeated Northwestern State, 3-1, also at Prather.

Live stats and a video stream of the conference-opening match will be available. Links to video and stats can be found on the volleyball schedule page at LionSports.net.

Southeastern is coming off a comeback, five-set victory at Southern Miss this past Tuesday.

The Lady Lions’ leading attackers this season are Cicily Hidalgo (3.70 k/set) and Karlee Wilkerson (2.64 k/set), a senior from Springfield, Louisiana. Hidalgo, the Southland Conference Offensive Player of the Week, sits atop the Southland charts with 174 kills and 10.83 attacks per set. Wilkerson ranks seventh in kills.

Gracie Duplechein (7.55 a/set), a freshman from St. Amant, Louisiana, and Ariana Hebert (2.87 a/set), a junior from Lafayette, have shared setting duties. Duplechein ranks fourth in the conference in assists.

Ansley Tullis, a sophomore libero from Slidell, Louisiana, leads the team with 4.13 digs per set, ranking sixth in the Southland. Hannah Brewer, a freshman outside hitter from Benton, Arkansas, ranks seventh in the conference in blocks (0.96 b/set).

Southeastern was the No. 3-ranked team in the Southland preseason poll and Northwestern State was seventh.

The Lady Demons have lost back-to-back matches following a four-match winning streak.

Symone Wesley (2.57 k/set) and Breanna Burrell (2.43 k/set) are Northwestern State’s top offensive threats. Piper Boydstun (9.54 a/set), the Lady Demon setter, leads the conference in assists. Three players, including Boydstun, rank in the Southland Top 10 in service aces.

Northwestern State libero Haley Hoang (4.14 d/set) ranks fifth in the conference in digs.

UP NEXT

The Lady Lions continue Southland action next week with a pair of road matches, Thursday at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Oct. 2 at UIW.

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 by 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.