Oct. 25, 2008

Box Score

THIBODAUX, La. - For the seventh time this season, the Colonel volleyball team forced a fifth set, but Saturday afternoon, Nicholls came out on top, defeating Texas Arlington 3-2 (23-25, 25-21, 21-25, 25-22, 15-10).

"Today was a tough match," said Chris Laird, head coach of the Colonels. "It was a big win for us, because again we went five sets. Hats off to [UT] Arlington. They really out-hustled us for a good bit of the match. We made the right plays at the right time, otherwise I think we would have been a little disappointed. We pushed each other today."

Freshman Rachel Yezak (Houston, Texas/Klein) recorded her fourth double-double of the season, tallying 15 kills and 10 digs for Nicholls.

The Colonels (7-13, 4-6 SLC) were paced by seniors Chelsey Adams (Gulf Breeze, Fla./Pensacola JC) and Mallory McInnis (Meraux, La./Chalmette) who posted 15 and 14 kills, respectively.

Junior Amy Whitehead (San Antonio, Texas/Douglas MacArthur) dished out 50 assists on the day, adding five kills of her own, while classmates Manieka Golden (Porter, Texas/Galveston CC) and Rachel Spreen (Houston, Texas/Bellaire) combined for eight service aces.

Freshman Danielle Daigle (Napoleonville, La./Assumption led with 21 digs, followed by Golden, who recorded 14 on the day.

"It was a great match," said Laird. "Luckily for us we came out with a win. That's a big plus because we're 3-for-7 in these five-set matches. I'm really proud of the girls. They kept their composure. We used a lot of girls off of the bench today, so this was a full team effort."

After dropping the first set 25-23, Nicholls battled back, using a 7-0 run through the end of the second set to even the match at 1-1 with a 25-21 win. Spreen served out the match for the Colonels, thanks to Maverick errors and timely hitting from McInnis.

The third game went to UTA behind six kills from Amanda Aguilera and a team .400 hitting percentage for the Mavs (5-18, 1-8 SLC).

But Nicholls rallied again, breaking a 19-19 tie as part of six-straight points for a 25-22 win, sending the match to a fifth set.

In the deciding game, the Colonels dominated, running out to an eight point lead, thanks in part to a team .333 hitting percentage, and finishing the match with a 15-10 victory.

"I'm just very excited that we were able to win at home and again," Laird added, "our fans were a big part of that. Hopefully we can take care of business on the road next weekend and pick up a couple of wins."

The Colonels will take to the road next weekend, traveling to Northwestern State (Oct. 30) and Central Arkansas (Nov. 1).

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