LAKELAND, Fla.— The Fire will attempt to extend their eight-game conference winning-streak this week when they travel to take on Ave Maria before a non-conference doubleheader on Friday when they square-off with Trinity Christian College at 3:30 pm and Loyola University (La.) at 6:30 pm.
Last week the Fire continued their winning ways in the conference, defeating Webber 3-0 on the road on Wednesday and then traveled home to take down St. Thomas 3-1.
Southeastern held St. Thomas to just a .160 hitting percentage, while they succeeded on .228 of their own attacks. Junior Emily Kalmink led the Fire attack with 17 kills. Junior Emily Boehlein had a big game of her own as she notched 12 kills and led the team with seven blocks.
Ave Maria will host the Fire with a 9-10 record, going 4-6 in conference play so far. Freshman Madelyn Haut leads the Gyrene attack as she's tallied 179 kills this season, placing her 25th in the NAIA with a hitting percentage of 0.319. Southeastern dropped the previous matchup this year in five sets. Emily Boehlein and Emily Kalmink led the Fire in that contest with 16 and 11 kills, respectively.
In the first of two matches on Friday, the Fire will host a Trinity Christian College squad who comes to Lakeland with a 16-7 record. Winners in seven of their last eight games, the Trolls are led by sophomore Sarah Kiwan who has 283 kills on the season and is ranked 46th in the NAIA with 3.49 kills per set. Junior Brianna Figueroa and senior Dani Van Laten are also standouts for Trinity Christian as Van Laten ranks 19th in the NAIA in assists per set with 10.19 and Figueroa ranks 34th in total digs with 477.
The Fire will finish the doubleheader hosting a 12-15 Loyola University (La.) team. The Wolfpack are led by freshman Brittany Cooper who has 258 kills on the year, and senior Sunni Blanchard who has assisted on 409 kills this year.
For all the latest on the team, follow @SEUFireVball on Twitter.