NEW ORLEANS -- The third weekend of the 2018 season finds Bethune-Cookman in the Big Easy enjoying some delicious local cuisine Thursday night before competing in four matches in the University of New Orleans Invitational Friday and Saturday.

The Lady Wildcats (2-4) will Jackson State at 9 a.m. local time (10 a.m. EST) and host UNO (3-4) at 3 p.m. (4 p.m. back home) Friday, then Morgan State (2-5) and Prairie View A&M (0-6) on Saturday at 9 a.m. (10 a.m. EST) and 3 p.m. (4 p.m.)
This is the next to-last tournament for the Wildcats before settling in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference later this month.  B-CU "travels" to nearby Stetson for three matches next week.

UPDATE: B-CU posted a 1-2 record last week at the FAU Invitational, downing St. Peters 3-1 while falling to The Citadel and host FAU. Jordan Jefferson and J'Nai Higgins garnered All-tournament spots, while Jefferson was named MEAC Co-Player Of The Week for efforts that included 22 kills against The Citadel and 21 digs and two aces in the St. Peter's win.

KINDA BIG DEAL: A winning record this weekend would put the Lady Wildcats at .500 or above after 10 matches sine the 2001 squad started 6-4.  Also, Morgan State has the second best record of MEAC North teams and could a team the Lady Wildcats see at the MEAC tournament.

BACK TO BOURBON STREET… Yeah, like Head Coach Brittany Williams is going to let the team go there. But this is the second time in three years B-CU has come to the 504. In 2016, the Lady Wildcats registered a signature win over Tulane in which Phylecia Armstrong set the school single-match hitting percentage record with .750, which was broken by Rakaya Neely last year against Howard.

STATS AND STUFF: Sophomore Faith Landreneaux leads the MEAC in services aces (14) and is 18th in the nation; she's also sixth in hitting percentage (.275) and  sixth in blocks (.91). Jefferson is sixth in kills (2.95) and eighth in digs while J'Nai Higgins is sixth in assists.

THE NEWCOMERS: Sterling Williamson's 19-kill effort against St. Peter's is the MEAC's fourth-best total of the season while Shayla Eugene's 22 digs against The Citadel is the league's seventh best.

SCOUTING REPORT: Jackson State won its opener against South Carolina State at the MEAC/SWAC volleyball challenge but has since lost four straight …. Host UNO took two matches last week at Tennessee Tech … Morgan State's wins came against St. Peter's and Niagara.

WEEKEND COVERAGE: Our friends at UNO are providing live stats and video for all four matches; follow our official twitter feed at @BCUvolleyball for the links, pithy in-match updates and where we went to get gumbo.