The Lion’s Roar / Melanie Mann
Elizabeth Ramee, the lone senior on the team, prepares to serve the ball to the opposing team. Ramee will be honored this Saturday prior to the match versus Abilene Christian during the Senior Day ceramony.
This weekend the Lady Lion’s volleyball team dropped both matches as they had the disadvantage of not competing with the home court advantage.
On Thursday, Oct. 16 the Lady Lions traveled to Nacogdoches, Texas to compete against the Stephan F. Austin Jacks in Shetun Gym for the Southland Conference opener.
The Southeastern volleyball team dropped all three sets against the Jacks, 25-10, 25-19 and 25-18.
The two-match winning streak that Southeastern held previously was taken away from them in the conference opener.
The team finished with 27 kills, four aces, 38 points, seven blocks, 105 total attempts and 26 assists.
The key players for the Lady Lions were freshman Sarah Friedman with eight kills and three blocks, sophomore Landry Bullock with six kills, junior Veronica Turk with six kills and three blocks and junior Tiffany Thomas with three kills and one block.
Even with these top players, Southeastern could not match the Jacks who had Justice Walker and Jill Ivy lead in kills as well as having the Jack’s Paige Holland dish out 32 assists and Tori Bates and OJ Olson post 10 digs each.
The Lady Lions next traveled to Natchitoches to compete against the Northwestern State Demons inside the Prather Coliseum.
Southeastern took the opening set and were able to post the best single-set percentage against the Demons hitting .375. However, they were unable to keep the win through the rest of the three matches as Demons took the final matches with the scores ending 14-25, 25-18, 25-23 and 25-23.
The key players for Southeastern as they competed against Northwestern was Friedman with 11 kills and three blocks, Rachael Bunn with 10 kills and 1 ace, Bullock with seven kills and one block and Turk with six kills and one block.
Though the Lady Lions finished without a win, head coach Jim Smoot is confidant about future conference matches after playing one of the toughest opponents.
“We had a disappointing match this weekend,” said Smoot. “But, we played one of the best teams, and we feel extremely confident in the next match of the conference.”
The Lady Lion’s Volleyball team will next see action against Incarnate Ward with the home team advantage inside the University Center.
“Traveling takes a toll on you,” said Smoot. “It is great to have home court advantage, especially to have all your families and friends to support you.”
Home games are free for everyone. To find out more information about Lady Lions volleyball, visit lionsports.net.
The Lion’s Roar / Maria Goddard
Sophomore Landry Bullock jumps up to spike the ball versus the University of New Orleans earlier this season. The Texas native had six kills against Stephen F. Austin. Bullock went on to chip in three digs in the same match. Later on in the week, Bullock totaled seven kills, one dig and a team block.