Final Stats Box Score and Play-by-Play

ARLINGTON, Texas - Junior right side hitter Rachel Yezak and sophomore outside hitter Jennifer Brandt each had double-doubles and the Colonels battled the Mavericks through 13 tie scores and five lead changes, but it wasn't enough for the Nicholls State University women's volleyball team (13-14, 5-9 Southland Conference) on Saturday as the Colonels fell to Texas-Arlington (14-14, 8-6 Southland) 3-1 by scores of 16-25, 25-21, 23-25, 21-25.

UT-Arlington opened the match strong, jumping out to a 1-0 lead behind a 25-16 first set win.  The Mavericks hit .316 (14-2-38) in the opening frame while limiting the Colonels to .125 (13-8-40) hitting en route to a 1-0 lead.

However, the Colonels mounted a rally in the second set.  Sophomore middle blocker Jessica Addicks turned in five of her 12 kills in the second to lead the way.  In a back-and-forth set that featured nine tie scores and four lead changes, the Colonels took control of the set for good when a kill by Addicks made it 16-15.  The Mavericks pulled to within one at 19-18, but Nicholls put together a 6-3 run and Addicks' fifth kill of the set closed out the 25-21 win to even the set at 1-1.

Unfortunately, for Nicholls, the Mavericks came out strong in the third set, opening the frame with an 10-3 run.  The Colonels answered by pulling to within one at 18-17 thanks to a 14-8 run of their own. 

Brandt, who totaled 11 kills and 19 digs, led the Colonels' third set efforts, posting a team-high five kills and no errors on eight attempts for a .625 hitting percentage in the third.  The Wallis, Texas native turned in kills on consecutive possessions to bring Nicholls to within 23-22.  However, the Mavericks managed to hang on for the 25-23 win and take a 2-1 lead.

Looking to force a fifth and decisive set, the Colonels got a strong performance from Yezak in the fourth.  The Houston native, who recorded her seventh double-double in her last ten outings with a team-high 15 kills and 13 digs, led the way for the Colonels with six kills and just one error on 11 attempts for a .455 hitting percentage. 

However, Nicholls couldn't keep up with the Mavericks in the fourth as UT-Arlington opened with a 5-1 run and never led by less than two the rest of the set.  After the Colonels pulled to within two at 9-7, the Mavericks began pulling away, going on an 11-5 run to take a 20-12 lead. 

Nicholls tried to rally once again closing the set with a 9-5 run, but it wasn't enough to overcome the Mavericks who took the fourth set 25-21 for the 3-1 win.

Saturday's match was the road finale for the Colonels, who will return to action on Thursday, Nov. 11 by hosting Central Arkansas.  Nicholls will conclude the regular season by hosting Northwestern State on Saturday Nov. 13.

NOTES

Sophomore middle blocker Jessica Addicks turned in her fourth consecutive match with double-digit kills.  In the last four matches, Addicks has turned 44 kills, 3.14 kills/set and a .297 hitting percentage (44-11-111) all team-bests.

Junior right side hitter Rachel Yezak turned in her 12th double-double and her seventh in her last ten matches.  Over the Colonels' last ten outings, Yezak has totaled 111 kills (a team-high) and 120 digs, the most for any non-defensive specialist on the roster.

Saturday marked the first contest for the Colonels with five players turning in double-digit digs.  Junior libero Danielle Daigle tallied a team-high 27 with senior Elise King turning in a career-high 23.  Brandt added 19, Yezak posted 13 and junior setter Jordan Karst recorded ten.

The loss, combined with a loss by Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, leaves the Colonels and Islanders tied for the eighth and final Southland Conference Tournament spot.  However, AMCC still owns the head-to-head tiebreaker over Nicholls by virtue of a 3-1 win at Nicholls on Oct. 15.

With two matches left in the regular season, any combination of Nicholls victories and Islander losses that add up to three will clinch the Colonels their third consecutive Southland Conference Tournament appearance.