Sept. 26, 2008

Box Score

HAMMOND, La. - The Colonel volleyball team won the opening match of Southland Conference play Friday evening at the University Center, defeating Southeastern Louisiana 3-1 (25-27, 25-23, 25-18, 25-18) and improving to 3-7 (1-0 SLC) on the year.

"This is a great way to start off conference play," said head coach Chris Laird. "Our girls did a phenomenal job and I'm so proud of them for coming back after losing that first set and getting the win."

Leading Nicholls were junior Manieka Golden (Porter, Texas/Galveston CC) and freshman Rachel Yezak (Houston, Texas/Klein) who each tallied 13 kills on the night. Senior Chelsey Adams (Gulf Breeze, Fla./Pensacola JC) and junior Rachel Spreen (Houston, Texas/Bellaire) each posted nine kills for Nicholls.

Yezak finished the match with a double-double, adding 14 digs to her ledger. Senior Enjoli Ford (New Orleans, La./McDonough 35) led the Colonels with 20 digs, while junior Amy Whitehead (San Antonio, Texas/Douglas McArthur), who had 42 assists, was second on the squad with 16 digs.

The Colonels logged 52 kills as a team, while recording 84 digs on the night.

"They really stayed in the match and worked hard to defeat a really tough Southeastern Louisiana team," added Laird. "This is a really good win for us and I'm pleased that we've started out conference play 1-0."

Nicholls jumped out to an early 5-2 lead before a 7-1 Lady Lion scoring run gave Southeastern a 9-6 lead, forcing a the Colonels to call a timeout. The Colonels rallied back, knotting the game at 14.

From then on, the squads traded points back and forth with neither gaining more than a one-point lead, sending the frame into extra points with a 25-25 deadlock. Southeastern struck first, taking advantage of a Colonel error to take a 26-25 lead and scoring on the next serve to capture the win 27-25.

Yezak and senior Mallory McInnis (Meraux, La./Chalmette) each tallied four kills for Nicholls in the first set, with Yezak hitting .500 in the frame. Ford logged six digs, while Yezak added four and combined with junior Amy Beshir (Huntsville, Ala./HUntsville) for a block.

The Colonels outhit the Lady Lions .146 to .050 through the set, but Southeastern Louisiana's six blocks and four service aces helped the Lions to the win. Whitehead handed out 12 assists in game number one.

The second set followed in tune, with the Colonels and Lady Lions trading points early until Southeastern took a 9-6 lead. Down 16-13, Nicholls used a 5-1 scoring run to take the lead 18-17, their first since early in the set.

Southeastern regained the lead 23-22, but the Colonels rallied, taking a the frame with a 24-22 victory and knotting the match at one-each.

For the Colonels, Golden added five kills to her three from the first set to lead the team, hitting .455 in the second stanza. Whitehead added 11 assists to her tally, while also leading Nicholls with five digs in the frame. Yezak and Ford each had four additional digs.

Nicholls hit .186, but Southeastern Louisiana's 17 kills boosted the team hitting percentage to .244.

The Colonels held a 4-1 lead early in the third set, maintaining a steady three-point lead. Southeastern called a timeout when the Nicholls lead grew to four, but the Colonels rolled on, scoring on the next point to take a 16-11 advantage.

With a 17-14 lead, Nicholls continued to dominate, taking six of the next eight points to jump out 23-16. The Lady Lions attempted a small comeback, but the Colonels wrapped up the frame 25-18, taking advantage of Southeastern errors to secure the 'W' and a 2-1 match lead.

Yezak, Golden and Spreen each posted four kills to lead Nicholls as the Colonels hit .308 in the frame. Yezak and Whitehead each added five digs to their growing tallies, with Whitehead dishing out another 11 assists.

For most of the fourth game, Southeastern held a two-point lead over Nicholls until the Colonels knotted it up at 12 and eventually took the lead 14-13.

The squads traded points and the lead until Nicholls took advantage of Lady Lion errors to pull ahead 20-17. The Colonels then used a 5-1 run to run out the set and the match with a 25-18 victory.

Adams and Yezak each led Nicholls with three kills, while freshman Danielle Daigle (Napoleonville, La./Assumption) led the Colonels defensively with eight digs.

The Colonels will travel to Jackson, Miss., Tuesday, facing the Jackson State Tigers in a 7 p.m. match. Nicholls has a 1-0 record over the Tigers so far this season, having won a 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-17) decision last weekend at the Jaguar Classic.

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