Sept. 17, 2008

Box Score

NEW ORLEANS, La. - In their first match in 11 days, the Nicholls volleyball team dropped a 3-0 (25-17, 25-15, 25-19) decision at New Orleans Wednesday evening in the Human Performance Center.

Nicholls falls to 1-6 on the season, while the Privateers improve to 7-3.

The Colonels and Privateers traded the lead back and forth to open the first set, before UNO used a 10-3 scoring run to break a 9-9 deadlock and run to a 25-17 victory.

Senior Mallory McInnis (Meraux, La./Chalmette) led the way for Nicholls, tallying four kills, while freshman Rachel Yezak (Houston, Texas/Klein) posted three kills and three digs. Junior Maneika Golden (Porter, Texas/Galveston CC) and senior Enjoli Ford (New Orleans, La./McDonough 35) each added three digs and junior setter Amy Whitehead (San Antonio, Texas/Douglas MacArthur) handed out 11 assists.

For the Privateers, Lindsey Loyd recorded five kills and teammate Dobrilla Kovacevic tallied four - part of a team .367 hitting percentage in the set. UNO's Heather Ford had two blocks, including a block solo that was part of the Privateer scoring drive.

Frame number two belonged to the Privateers as well, as UNO took a 2-0 match advantage with a 25-15 win. The Colonels held close through the early part of the set before UNO went on a 15-3 run to take a 23-11 lead. Nicholls scored four times on the UNO set point, attempting a late rally, but the Privateers sealed the set on a Colonel blocking error.

"I thought we started strong in the first set, but we let them off the hook with our serving errors," said Colonel head coach Chris Laird. "We didn't play with aggression in the first and second sets."

Junior Rachel Spreen (Houston, Texas/Bellaire) posted four kills for Nicholls, hitting .571 in the set. Spreen also logged a service ace. Whitehead dished out an additional six assists before freshman Jordan Karst (Woodstock, Ga./Etowah) entered the match and tallied two of her own.

Kovacevic added six kills to her growing tally, recording a .556 hitting percentage in the frame, while Jaci Bayley gave UNO eight assits.

UNO claimed the match with a 25-19 win in the third and final set. After starting out the set with a 2-0 lead, the Colonels dropped behind but held close, finding themselves down 13-12 mid-match before the Privateers closed out the set and the match.

"In the third set, I thought we started slow," Laird noted, "but we definitely finished strong, which is something we've been talking about. UNO is a very good team. They are well-coached and have great athletes."

Spreen added three kills and three digs to her ledger, while Yezak posted two kills. Whitehead dished out four assists, giving her 21 in the match.

Danielle Daigle (Napoleonville, La./Assumption) had a team-high six digs, followed by Golden's five.

"They are well-coached and have great athletes," added Laird. "Their coach paid us a nice compliment, saying that this was a good game for them; that they really had to play. They're 7-3 and we're 1-6, but we're still working on the process."

For UNO, Kovacevic finished with 19 kills, hitting .531 in the match. Loyd tallied 11 in the match, while Nicky Valenti posted a team-high nine digs.

"This was just a good opportunity for us to face some great competition," Laird said. "As long as we take the positives from this and learn from our mistakes, it only helps to make us a better and stronger team."

The Colonels will hit the court again this weekend, traveling to Mobile, Ala. to play in the Jaguar Classic. Nicholls will face South Alabama on Friday night and Jackson State on Saturday afternoon.

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