Final Stats Sept. 18, 2009
Box Score
PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas - The Colonels battled the Jaguars through 27 tie scores and 12 lead changes, but South Alabama was able to hold on as the Nicholls State University volleyball team (3-8) dropped the opener of their final regular season weekend tournament 3-0 (25-23, 26-24, 25-20) on Friday night at the Lady Panther Invitational at Prairie View A&M.
Senior Amy Beshir led the way for the Colonels with a .412 hitting percentage (8-1-17), senior Amy Whitehead posted 31 assists to get to within 50 of 3,000 for her career, freshman Jennifer Brandt added another ten kill contest and the Colonels posted six total blocks on the afternoon.
The Colonels started strong with four kills each from Beshir and sophomore Rachel Yezak in the first set. Nicholls and South Alabama fought through eight ties and four lead changes, but a 12-6 run by the Jaguars midway through the opening frame was too much to overcome. Nicholls fought back, but South Alabama hung on for a 25-23 win.
The second set saw more of the same as Nicholls and South Alabama saw 15 ties and five lead changes in the second and the Colonels battled back to tie the score at 24-24 to send the second into tiebreakers. Unfortunately, a kill by the Jaguars and a Nicholls error gave South Alabama a 2-0 lead by virtue of a 26-24 second set win.
Looking to force a fourth set, the Colonels battled back with three kills each from Brandt and senior Rachel Spreen in the third. A pair of Nicholls blocks kept the Jaguar attack off balance, but a late South Alabama run put the game out of reach as the Colonels fell 25-20 in the third and final set.
Nicholls will return to action on Saturday when they face the host PVAMU Lady Panthers at 10:30 a.m. After the opening contest, the Colonels will take on Arkansas-Pine Bluff with a 3:30 p.m. first serve scheduled.
Following their final weekend tournament of the regular season, the Colonels will return to Stopher Gym for the first time since Sept. 1 when they host the Southeastern Louisiana Lions on Sept. 25 to open Southland Conference play.
