The Lion’s Roar / Melanie Mann
Head Coach Jim Smoot gives a pep talk to Sarah Friedman during the game versus Southern. The Lady Lions have lost every game since their first  home victory. 

The Allstate Sugar Bowl Collegiate Classic proved to be a series of disappointments for the Lady Lions volleyball team.

Thursday night’s game at Delvin Fieldhouse was a downer for the Lady Lions, with the team losing to Tulane, 25-18, 25-19, 25-16. Standout players of the match were senior outside hitter Elizabeth Ramee with five kills and junior libero/defensive specialist Morgan Todd with 12 digs.

Struggling with their offense, the Lady Lions were only able to post a .021 attack percentage. Tulane (1-6) ended up posting 11 attack blocks. Sophomore setter Morgan Miller’s ace at the beginning of the match shot the Lady Lions into the lead; however, Tulane was quick to catch up and steal the lead. Southeastern was never able to reclaim the lead.

After Tulane scored the first six points in the second set, the Lady Lions called for a timeout in order to get a three-point run to cut down the lead. In the final set, the Lady Lions were able to scrap up five consecutive points from sophomore outside hitter Parrie Hartley.

Returning to Delvin Fieldhouse, the Friday match at 4:30 p.m. against Florida Atlantic Owls showed improvement in the Lady Lions overall performance, but they were defeated with the score, 25-14, 25-23, 23-25, 25-16.

Though the outcome was not favorable, Head Coach Jim Smoot felt there was an improvement in the team’s performance in Friday evening’s game.

“I think we definitely played much better than last night,” said Smoot. “We were more steady this time around.”

For Smoot, the two standout players of the Friday night game were Tiffany Thomas, a junior outside hitter with 12 kills and a .333 attack percentage, and Mikayla Shippy, a junior setter with 38 assists.

“Tiffany Thomas played really well tonight,” said Smoot. “She did a lot of smart attacking. Mikayla Shippy, our setter, was great with running the offense.”

Though the game ended in a loss for the Lady Lions, Smoot was still optimistic.

“[My hope for the next game is] that we just play a little better than we did tonight,” said Smoot.

The final game Saturday night resulted in the Lady Lions being once again defeated, this time by Howard, with match scores of 25-11, 25-21, 18-25, 25-17.

Southeastern was unable to triumph over Howard’s offense. Sophomore middle blocker Rachel Bunn had 10 kills while Miller had 28 assists. Miller’s number of digs earned her the first double double of her athletic career.

The Lady Lions will host Southern Miss. at the University Center on Tuesday at 6 p.m. For more information on Southeastern athletics and upcoming sports events, check out lionsports.net.