Oct. 30, 2008

Box Score

NATCHITOCHES, La. - The Colonel volleyball team dropped a 3-1 (25-21, 25-22, 16-25, 25-20) decision to Northwestern State Thursday evening in Prather COliseum.

"We had some bright spots during each set," said Head Coach Chris Laird. "I felt like we could have gotten them, but we didn't play hard the entire time and missed opportunities that would have changed the outcome. We've got to rebound from this loss and get more wins to keep our tournament hopes alive."

Nicholls (7-14, 4-7 SLC) was led by freshman Rachel Yezak (Houston, Texas/Klein), who tallied a season-high 19 kills, hitting a team-high .378 in the four-set match.

Yezak was joined by junior Manieka Golden (Porter, Texas/Galveston CC), who, in her fourth double-double of the season, posted 11 kills and 14 digs.

"Manieka had some great digs and we couldn't capitalize on them," added Laird. "We had some good touches, but you can't give Northwestern [State] that many free balls."

Freshman Danielle Daigle (Napoleonville, La./Assumption) recorded a team-leading 16 digs, while junior setter Amy Whitehead (San Antonio, Texas/Douglas MacArthur) dished out 40 assists on the night.

After dropping the first two sets, Nicholls rallied, never trailing through the third frame. The Lady Demons knotted the game at three, but the Colonels used a 5-1 scoring run to take the lead they would not relinquish.

But Northwestern State took control of the fourth set, finishing off the win with a 25-20 victory.

The Colonels will travel to Central Arkansas on Saturday at 2 p.m.

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