LAKE CHARLES- McNeese dropped its home finale 3-2 (25-22, 25-16, 25-23, 22-25, 10-15) to Southeastern Louisiana here Saturday on a day where seniors
Bridget Justis,
Hailee Showers and
Rebecca Korenek were honored following the match.
McNeese (9-18, 5-7 SLC) opened the match with a 25-22 win that saw the Cowgirls pick up several key blocks before Showers picked up the final kill to pick up the first set win. Southeastern La. picked up the second set win to even the match at one all. The third set was one in which the Cowgirls made a huge comeback after trailing 11-16. McNeese would go on to outscore the Lions 12-7 to tie the set at 23 on kills by Showers and
Jenny D'Alessandro. After a SE La. hitting error, Showers once again put the finishing touches with a kill for the 25-23 third set win.
Southeastern La. (6-19, 5-7 SLC) jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the fourth set and the Cowgirls looked like they were going to steal this set from the Lions after cutting the lead to one (22-23) after trailing 19-23. A kill by Katelyn Elliot and back-to-back blocks along with a kill by Showers brought the Cowgirls to within 22-23. Southeastern La. closed out the set with two kills for the 23-25 win, sending the match to a deciding fifth set.
The fifth set was back and forth until SE La. took a 10-8 lead on an error. McNeese got as close as 11-10 before SE La. would outscore the Cowgirls 4-0 the rest of the way to pick up the third set win 15-10 and the overall match.
Showers took advantage of senior day by tying her season high with 12 kills to lead the Cowgirls.
Bridget Justis, who has led the Cowgirls in assists all season, continued that here Saturday with a team high 17.
Alexandra Aguilera picked up 14 digs and
Adison Giambrone added 11. Aguilera completed a double double by dishing out 34 assists. D'Alessandro ended the day with a career high eight blocks and Korenek tied her season high with four.
Elyssa Purcell's match high 18 led Southeastern La. in kills. The Lions had three players record 20 or more digs and were led by Madi Odom's 27.
McNeese will conclude its season with its next four matches on the road. The Cowgirls will travel to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Incarnate Word, Nicholls and Abilene Christian in the next two weeks.
