Oct. 18, 2008

Box Score

HUNTSVILLE, Texas - The Colonel volleyball team suffered a tough loss on the road Saturday evening, falling 3-2 (16-25, 25-23, 30-32, 25-22, 15-12) to Sam Houston State in Southland Conference play.

"Tonight was a tough loss," said Chris Laird, head coach of the Colonels. "We just can't keep missing serves and making errors at crucial times and killing our momentum. We seem to get tight at crunch time."

Junior Manieka Golden (Porter, Texas/Galveston CC) and freshman Rachel Yezak (Houston, Texas/Klein) each posted double-doubles on the night. For Golden, who had 14 digs and a team-high 15 kills, it is the second-straight and third double-double of the season. Yezak recorded 10 kills and 14 digs for her third double-double of the year as well.

Danielle Daigle (Napoleonville, La./Assumption)l led Nicholls with 27 digs, a season high for the freshman.

Senior Mallory McInnis (Meraux, La./Chalmette) and junior Rachel Spreen (Houston, Texas/Bellaire) also reached double digits in kills, logging 10 and 14, respectively.

The Colonels recorded 11 total team blocks, including five block assists each from senior Chelsey Adams (Gulf Breeze, Fla./Pensacola JC) and junior Amy Beshire (Huntsville, Ala./Huntsville). Golden posted four block assists on the night.

"I"m surprised and disappointed that we get tight like we did when we spend so much time talking about poise and composure," Laird added. "We didn't close the door when we should have. We know that we need to take care of business, and the way things ended was unacceptable. We need to learn to play to win rather than to play not to lose."

Sam Houston State was led by Anna Ferguson's 17 kills, while Shamira Washington tallied 25 digs.

"Sam Houston [State] just wanted it more in the end," noted Laird. "It's tough to battle so hard just to lose by three in the fifth set rather than finishing the job like we should have in four. We just have to get back now and get ready for our match versus Southeastern [Louisiana] on Wednesday."

Nicholls will return to action Wednesday night, hosting Southeastern Louisiana at 7 p.m.

That night, the Colonels will participate in the Susan G. Komen Foundation's 'Dig for the Cure,' a national breast cancer awareness fundraiser where fans pledge money for each dig Nicholls records on the night. For more information, or to make your pledge, please contact the Nicholls volleyball office at (985) 448-4283.

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