The Southern Miss volleyball team handled Southeastern Louisiana with a sound team performance, defeating the Lions with scores of (25-19, 25-17, 25-27, 25-19).
Southern Miss began the first set with a strong run, scoring the first five points of the game. However, Southeastern Louisiana gathered its composure and went on a 5-1 run to bring the score to eight-all between the two teams.
From there, the two teams were neck-and-neck in terms of points total until the Golden Eagles created a small cushion in the lead, going up 14-12. Then, using a 4-0 run, Southern Miss increased the lead to 18-12 before winning the overall set, 25-19.
Similar to the first set, the two teams came out and battled hard against each other, but the lead was in Southern Miss’ favor, 13-10. Through the remainder of the set, the Golden Eagles went a 4-2 run before using an 8-5 run to win the set.
In the third set, SELU jumped out to an early 2-0 lead before Southern Miss stormed back with a huge run to take a 14-6 lead. Then, the two teams battled out over the next couple of series, but this time, the Lions took charge. After Southern Miss failed to sustain a four point lead, SELU ended the set on a 7-1 run to win, 27-25.
The Golden Eagles started off slow in the fourth set, allowing the Lions to take a 6-2 advantage to begin the set. But, the Golden Eagles did not give up, battling back to tie the set at eight. From there, Southern Miss used a 5-2 run to create some cushion in the lead before blowing the set open, taking a 20-13 lead. SELU tried to cut into the lead with a run of its own, but it was not enough as Southern Miss went on a 4-2 run to win 25-19 for the set.
Junior Mary Pursell put on a stellar performance, recording 33 digs for the Golden Eagles. Kristen Fleming also was dominant, posting 24 assists and 14 digs for the game.
Sophomore Stephany Purdue led Southern Miss in kills with 14 followed by junior Quinci Hayward with 11 and senior Jasmine Crowell with 10.
As a team, the Golden Eagles tallied 54 kills, four aces, 70 digs and seven team blocks compared to the Lady Lions 38 kills, two aces, 62 digs and six ten blocks on the evening.
Next up, Southern Miss will travel to Atlanta, Georgia Friday to participate in its last in-season tournament hosted by Georgia Tech. During the two-day tournament, the Golden Eagles will face Alabama A&M on Friday and Georgia and Georgia Tech on Saturday.
