Aug. 29, 2009

Oklahoma 3, Nicholls 0 Houston Baptist 3, Nicholls 1

HOUSTON - A straight-set loss to traditional Big XII power Oklahoma started the day, and a hard-fought loss to a Houston Baptist team rounded out the Colonels' first tournament of the season as the Nicholls State University women's volleyball team (0-3) were tripped up in a pair of matches on Saturday to wrap up the Mizuno Invitational at Rice University.

"We didn't play Nicholls volleyball today," head coach Chris Laird said. "I was disappointed with our missed opportunities. We did get better in some areas throughout the weekend. However, we had too many inconsistencies in effort and performance. We're looking forward to playing at home on Tuesday and trying to turn things around."

Heading into the weekend, Laird knew his squad was facing a major challenge. After opening the tournament against the hosting Rice Owls (a 2008 NCAA Tournament squad), the Colonels would have to take on the Sooners and former NAIA powerhouse Houston Baptist on the same day.

The Sooners controlled the action in the morning match as Oklahoma rolled to a 3-0 straight set victory by scores of 25-15, 25-14 and 25-13.

The Colonels found more success against a Huskies' team that was playing in its own home town in front of a partisan crowd.

After dropping a hard-fought 25-21 first set, the Colonels battled back with a 25-21 victory in the second frame.

A marathon third session ensued as 11 ties and six lead changes forced the third set into tie breakers. Senior Rachel Spreen added three of her team-high 14 kills, sophomore Rachel Yezak hit .500 (3-0-6) and classmate Danielle Daigle added 11 digs to keep the Husky attack off-balance.

Unfortunately, it wasn't enough as HBU pulled away for a 29-27 in to take a 2-1 advantage. The Huskies would take the momentum into the fourth set for a 25-17 win to claim the four-set win.

The Colonels will now try to snap their three-match skid when they return home to open the home portion of the 2009 schedule. Admission is free to all Nicholls students with a valid ID and all children age five and under.

First serve is set for 7 p.m. at Stopher Gymnasium. The Colonels will not have another home match before the start of the conference season on Sept. 25.