LAKE CHARLES—No. 3 seed McNeese volleyball begins Southland Conference Tournament action at 5 p.m. this Friday, Nov. 18 at the University Center in Hammond against the winner of Thursday's 5 p.m. match between No. 6 UNO and No. 7 Texas A&M-Commerce.  All matches will be streamed on ESPN+.
 
McNeese (17-15) ended the regular season in a three-way tie for second place, will make its 34^th Southland Conference Tournament appearance and first under first year head coach Sasha Karelov.
 
The Cowgirls enter the tournament having won 12 of its last 15 matches including wins over both UNO and Texas A&M-Commerce.
 
"Freshman of the Year" Sanni Rantanen, first team All-SLC Kendall Glueck and second team All-SLC Bailey Tillman are three of the Cowgirls' leaders heading into the tournament.
 
Rantanen leads the Cowgirls with 136 blocks and 36 aces and is third on the team with 210 kills. Glueck leads the team with 369 kills and is second on the team with 117 blocks while Tillman leads the team with 592 digs for an average of 4.85 per set, ranking her sixth in the nation.
 
Ticket prices for the 2022 Southland Conference Volleyball Tournament are as follows:
All-Tournament Pass- Adults $20, Youth $10
Single Day- Adults $10, Youth $ 5
Under the age of 5 - Free
Southland Conference Students - FREE with valid institutional ID
Ticket link to purchase tickets in advance: https://www.ticketreturn.com/prod2new/client.asp?ClientID=134
 
 
2022 SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
 
FIRST ROUND - Thursday, November 17
Match 1 – No. 5 Northwestern State vs. No. 8 UIW - 2 p.m.
Match 2 – No. 6 New Orleans vs. No. 7 Texas A&M-Commerce - 5 p.m.

QUARTERFINALS - Friday, November 18
Match 3 – Match 1 winner vs. No. 4 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi - 2 p.m.
Match 4 – Match 2 winner vs. No. 3 McNeese - 5 p.m.

SEMIFINALS - Saturday, November 19
Match 5 – Match 3 winner vs. No. 1 HCU - Noon
Match 6 – Match 4 winner vs. No. 2 Southeastern - 3 p.m.

CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH - Sunday, November 20
Championship Match - 2 p.m.
 
 
McNEESE SLC TOURNAMENT NOTES
• making its 34^th SLC Tournament appearance
• seeking its first SLC Tournament title
• has advanced to the SLC Tournament Championship match twice (2021, 1999)
• has advanced to the semifinals nine times
• making its first SLC Tournament appearance under first year head coach Sasha Karelov
• ended the 2022 regular season with a 17-15 overall record
• ended the 2022 season in a 3-way tie for second place with a 13-5 record, the best conference record since 2003 (13-7)
• The 13 conference wins is the most wins since 2003 when that Cowgirl team posted a 13-7 SLC record
• The second-place conference finish for McNeese is the highest finish since 2006 when the Cowgirls also tied for 2^nd place
• enters the tournament as the No. 3 seed
• won 12 of its last 15 regular season matches
• Eight of the last 15 regular season wins were straight set wins
• Mia Perales has dished out 10 or more assists in 31 of 32 matches
• Bailey Tillman has picked up 10 or more digs in 28 of 32 matches
• Kendall Glueck has recorded 10 or more kills in 209 matches
• Skyeler Embry has three double doubles in last 7 matches