Nov. 13, 2009

Box Score

LAKE CHARLES - The Nicholls State University women's volleyball team (12-17, 6-9 Southland Conference) slugged it out with McNeese State (17-12, 5-10 Southland) over five sets on Friday night. Fortunately, the Colonels prevailed 3-2 (21-25, 27-25, 22-25, 25-20, 15-11) to clinch their second consecutive Southland Conference Tournament trip.

After making the 2008 conference tournament, this marks the first time in school history that the Colonels have qualified for the league championship tourney in consecutive seasons.

Nicholls entered the weekend tied for seventh with the Cowgirls. After beating McNeese 3-0 in Thibodaux on Oct. 10, Friday's win over the Colonels gives Nicholls a 2-0 sweep of the Cowgirls and a head-to-head tiebreaker over McNeese, thereby ensuring the Colonels will be no lower than the No. 7 seed at the conference tournament next week in San Antonio.

A Nicholls win over Stephen F. Austin, or a loss by Texas-San Antonio at Texas-Arlington, would allow the Colonels to lay claim to the No. 6 seed at the Tournament.

Senior outside hitter Manieka Golden (match-high 26 kills and 15 digs) and sophomore outside hitter Rachel Yezak (13 kills and 14 digs) each posted double-doubles to help the Colonel cause.

Meanwhile, sophomore libero Danielle Daigle averaged 5.0 digs/set with 25 digs on the night, freshman middle blocker Jasmine Harris had a hand in four of the Colonels 7.0 blocks and senior setter Amy Whitehead posted a career-high 64 assists.

McNeese struck first with a 25-21 win over the Colonels. However, Nicholls battled back by claiming a 27-25 victory in the second. The Cowgirls claimed a 2-1 lead with a 25-22 third set win, but the Colonels forced a fifth and decisive set with a 25-20 win in the fourth.

In the fifth, McNeese got off to a fast start by jumping out to a 6-2 lead. However, the Colonels rallied once again. Nicholls went on a 7-4 run to take an 11-10 lead. The Colonel defense kept the Cowgirls in check the rest of the way as McNeese managed just one more point and the Colonels claimed a 15-11 win in the finale.

The Colonels will return to action on Sunday when they head to Stephen F. Austin. First serve for the regular season finale for both teams is set for 3:30 p.m. Live stats will be available online at www.sfajacks.com.