Sept. 19, 2009

Box Score

PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas - Senior setter Amy Whitehead totaled 60 assists through two matches on Saturday to pass the 3,000 career assist mark and the Nicholls State University women's volleyball team (5-8) rebounded from a Friday night loss with a pair of wins over Prairie View A&M and Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Saturday on the final day of the Lady Panther Invitational.

With the wins, the Colonels conclude a three-week stretch away from Nicholls. The Colonels last played at home on Sept. 1 before embarking on the three-week stretch that included weekend tournaments in Georgia, Alabama and Texas.

"It's been kind of tough being away from home so much," head coach Chris Laird said. "The regular season tournaments are about us playing with some heart. We did that well at times over the last three weekends."

There were plenty of highlights to go around as Nicholls cruised to wins over PVAMU and UAPB by scores of 3-1 (17-25, 25-21, 25-11, 25-19) and 3-0 (25-12, 25-11, 25-9), respectively on Saturday.

Freshman outside hitter Jennifer Brandt earned all-tournament honors by finishing the weekend with a 3.0 kill/set average, freshman middle blocker Jasmine Harris tallied 15 total blocks over the weekend's three matches, and Whitehead raised her career assist total to 3,051 on Saturday.

Whitehead, who already set the school's career assists record last season became the first Colonel volleyball player in school history to surpass the 3,000 assist mark after totaling 91 in three matches on the week.

"I'm very excited about it," Laird said. "She's been a big part of this team since she got here. Hopefully, she can keep going forward and continue to achieve some more goals. If we can get her closer to 4,000 and give her a chance to reach that, that would be amazing. She's done a great job, and she's been a good leader for us, and we're excited to have her in our program. It's a testament to the hitters around her and the passers that get her the ball that help her get to 3,000."

The Colonels will now return home to face Southeastern Louisiana in the Southland Conference opener for both teams on Friday, Sept. 25 at 7 p.m. The Colonels, who went 2-0 against the Lions in 2008, will be playing in Stopher Gym for the first time since Sept. 1.

"I know that we're happy to get this out of the way and start the conference season at home against Southeastern," Laird said. "We're looking forward to that being a great match for both teams. Now that conference is here, it's all about results and we need to try to take care of our side of the court first."