The Lady Lions volleyball team won 3-1 against the Nicholls State University Colonels on Tuesday Nov. 12. 

Prior to the match, the Lady Lions were in seventh place within the Southland Conference. Their victory has secured their spot in the Southland Conference Tournament. The team had not made it to the conference since 2016.

Jeremy White, head coach of volleyball, was proud of the team’s Southland win.

“We’re really excited,” said White. “I’m really excited for the kids. This is something we really had a goal for all year long, and it’s something they haven’t done in a long time here for at least a few years.”

White explained that although he is excited about the tournament, he still wants the team to focus on their upcoming game against Sam Houston State University.

“I’m really excited about what they’ve done so far, but I think we still gotta keep our mindset focused on Sam Houston first,” commented White. “We’ve got another opportunity to go get another win this weekend against Sam Houston, which is senior night as well. We’re gonna focus on just sticking with the process and let the results take care of themselves.”

According to White, the team has been focusing on being able to adjust their strategy as the game goes on.

“I think the biggest thing was probably making adjustments,” explained White. “We’ve kind of really focused heavily on culture the entire year, and the last couple of weeks we’ve really been trying to focus on being able to make end-game adjustments and things like that.”

Jodi Edo, senior middle blocker, is looking forward to returning to the Southland Tournament.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been back to the conference tournament with this team,” said Edo. “We got a new coach this year. Coach Jeremy White was definitely able to bring up the culture with this team. I’m very excited to finally be back in the tournament again with the new culture we have.”

Edo believed that the team’s motivation came from the player’s support of each other.

“We told each other each time in the circle, we come together, and we’re gonna say ‘aggressive’ on three, and each time we did that we went and we executed on the next point, and it carried on into the next set,” explained Edo.

The Lady Lions will take on Sam Houston on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 1 p.m. in the University Center.