Nov. 20, 2009

Box Score

SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Senior outside hitter Manieka Golden sparked the offense with 21 kills, and sophomore libero Danielle Daigle posted her seventh 20-dig match of the year to lead the defense and the No. 7 seed Nicholls State University women's volleyball team (13-18) rallied from a 1-0 deficit for a 3-1 upset victory over No. 2 Sam Houston State in the first round of the 2009 Southland Conference Tournament on Friday afternoon.

"What a huge match for us tonight," head coach Chris Laird said. "Manieka was big for us with a double-double, Dani did a phenomenal job of getting some key digs at the right time. The girls really stepped up and played the way they were supposed to. We're very excited for our first semifinal appearance."

The Colonels won the 2003 Southland Conference Tournament, but were forced to forfeit all wins that season due to the use of an ineligible player; making Friday's upset of the Bearkats the first official postseason win for Nicholls volleyball since the Colonels joined the Southland Conference.

Second-seeded Sam Houston State struck first as the Bearkats and Colonels battled through 11 tie scores in the opening frame. However, after Nicholls tied the opening frame at 14-14, Sam Houston State managed to stay a step ahead the rest of the way. The Bearkats outpaced the Colonels 11-7 down the home stretch for the 25-21 first set win.

However, Nicholls regrouped in the second as Golden tallied eight kills and a .353 hitting percentage in the second set to lead Nicholls to a .217 team hitting percentage. Meanwhile, Daigle added eight digs and the Colonels turned in a pair of blocks to limit SHSU to a .143 hitting percentage as Nicholls evened the match at 1-1 with a 25-23 second set win.

Both sides hung tough in the third, but it was Nicholls that would come away with a 26-24 win. Golden had another five kills and no errors while hitting a sterling .714. Meanwhile, freshman outside hitter Jennifer Brandt added six more kills on 11 errorless attacks to post a .545 hitting percentage.

The Bearkats refused to go quietly in the third, tying the match at 21-21. However, one kills each from Golden and Brandt and three SHSU errors helped Nicholls pull away for the win.

Nicholls came out in the fourth looking to avoid a decisive fifth set. The Colonels hit just .128 as a team in the fourth, but the Nicholls defense came up big with 5.5 total team blocks. With freshmen Rachel Yezak (1 BS, 3 BA), Jasmine Harris (1 BA) and Jessica Addicks (2 BA) and seniors Golden (2 BA) and Amy Whitehead (1 BA) each putting their names in the block column in the fourth set, the Colonels held SHSU to a .000 team hitting percentage en route to a 25-22 win.

With the win, the Colonels avenged a 3-0 loss at home at the hands of the Bearkats on Oct. 16.

Nicholls will now await the winner of No. 3 Stephen F. Austin and No. 6 Texas-San Antonio. The winner between the Ladyjacks and Roadrunners will square off against the Colonels at 4 p.m. on Saturday.

The Colonels claimed a 3-1 win over UTSA in the two teams' only meeting back on Nov. 6. Nicholls is 1-1 this year against SFA, beating the Ladyjacks 3-2 at home on Oct. 9 and falling 3-0 on the road in the regular season finale against SFA on Nov. 14.