Nov. 8, 2008

Box Score

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - Less than 24 hours after picking up a big win over Texas-San Antonio, the Colonel volleyball team swept Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 3-0 (25-19, 27-25, 25-21) Saturday afternoon in the final road trip of the 2008 season.

"We had a great performance today," said Chris Laird, head coach of the Colonels. "We passed well and I felt like our ball control was much better. Our serving was not as effective as it has been, but I'm most pleased with our ball control."

With the win, the Colonels improve to 9-15 overall and 6-8 in Southland Conference play, while the Islanders drop to 4-20, 2-12 SLC.

"Getting two wins in a row on the road is huge for us and I think part of that is because we stuck to our game plan," Laird noted. "I couldn't be happier or prouder of our girls."

The Colonels were led by junior Manieka Golden's (Porter, Texas/Galveston CC) 12 kills. Golden, who made just one error on the day, hit .367 in the three-set match. She was followed by senior Chelsey Adams, who finished with 10 kills and a .381 hitting percentage.

Junior Amy Beshir (Huntsville, Ala./Huntsville) and freshman Rachel Yezak (Houston, Texas/Klein) tallied five and four block assists, respectively, part of seven total team blocks for Nicholls.

Freshman libero Danielle Daigle (Napoleonville, La./Assumption) recorded 24 digs, while Yezak followed with 12. Junior setter Amy Whitehead (San Antonio, Texas/Douglas MacArthur) handed out 36 assists in the match, adding a block solo.

The Colonels rallied from an 18-18 stalemate, using a 7-1 scoring drive to win the first set 25-19. Nicholls trailed through much of the second set, but back-to-back kills from Adams at a 25-all tie put the Colonels up 27-25.

In the third set, it was all Colonels as the squad scored four-straight to take a 13-9 lead they would not relinquish.

Nicholls will return to Stopher Gym Friday and Saturday to host McNeese State and Stephen F. Austin in the final weekend of the regular season.

"We're excited to come back to Stopher for Senior Night (Friday vs. McNeese State) and Saturday's match versus Stephen F. Austin," added Laird. "We're glad to have gotten these two big wins on the road and I definitely think we're peaking at the right time with the conference tournament approaching."

Prior to Friday night's match vs the Cowgirls, the Colonels will honor three seniors in a pre-match ceremony.

######