Sept. 5, 2009

Box Score

KENNESAW, Ga. - After cruising to victory in the morning session with a 3-1 win over Alabama A&M, the Nicholls State University women's volleyball team (2-5) looked to finish the weekend undefeated. Unfortunately, for the Colonels, a hard-fought final match with host institution Kennesaw State went to five sets before going the Owls way 3-2 on Saturday at the Residence Inn-Kennesaw Great 8 Volleyball Challenge.

Despite dropping a heartbreaker in finale, head coach Chris Laird was pleased with the progress his team showed over the 2-1 weekend.

"Today was a good day for us, even though we finished 1-1," Laird said. "We made strides as a team. We did some great things at the right times, and we did some questionable things at the worst times. But, we played a good team in Kennesaw State. That was a good match for us. We had four freshmen on the floor at certain times. We were disappointed with the loss, but we still feel pretty good with the overall effort and performance today."

The Colonels began the day with a 3-1 win over the Bulldogs by posting eight blocks and taking advantage of 24 Alabama A&M errors. Nicholls rolled to victory with wins in the first, third and fourth sets by scores of 25-22, 25-15 and 25-18, respectively. The lone blemish came in a 25-22 second-set loss to the Bulldogs, in which 12 Colonel attack errors proved costly.

Sophomore Rachel Yezak led the way for the Colonel offense with 13 kills and a .300 hitting percentage (16-4-30) against A&M. Senior setter Amy Whitehead posted 41 assists for her second 40-assist match of the year and also factored in six of Nicholls' eight blocks on the morning to help the Colonels improve to 2-4 on the year.

The Colonels ran into trouble in the opening frame of the nightcap, however. Kennesaw State hit .448 as a team (16-3-29) to win 25-15 and take a 1-0 lead early on.

However, Nicholls rebounded in the second with a 25-20 win to knot the match at 1-1. Senior Rachel Spreen hit .429 without an error (3-0-7) to lead the Colonels in the second set, while freshman Jessica Addicks factored in a pair of crucial blocks to keep Kennesaw State at bay.

The Owls rallied with another 25-15 win in the third to reclaim a 2-1 advantage, but the Colonels battled back in the fourth. Freshman Jennifer Brandt hit .286 (2-0-7) en route to 16 kills, her fourth consecutive double-digit kill performance, as Nicholls rolled to a 25-16 fourth-set win to force a decisive fifth set.

The final set would prove to be a nail-biter, as the Colonels and Owls battled through six tie scores. Addicks hit .400 (3-1-5) to up her kill total to 14 on the match. However, it wasn't enough as Kennesaw State pulled away for the 15-12 final set win.

Addicks and Brandt both picked up All-Tournament honors after the match. Addicks finished in a three-way tie for second on the team (along with Spreen and Yezak) with 23 kills and 1.92 kills per set on the weekend.

Meanwhile, Brandt led the Colonels in almost every major offensive category during the three-match stretch. The freshman led the team in kills (37), kills per set (3.08) and recorded ten or more kills in all three matches.

The Colonels will be on the road again next weekend (Sept. 11-12) when they return to action at the Jaguar Classic hosted by South Alabama in Mobile. Nicholls will then visit the Lady Panther Invitational hosted by Prairie View A&M the following weekend (Sept. 18-19) before their next home match Sept. 25 vs. Southland Conference rival Southeastern Louisiana.