Final Stats Northwestern State-Nicholls Box Score

THIBODAUX, La. - The Colonels dropped their third straight match, falling to the Northwestern State Lady Demons 3-1, 26-28, 25-18, 20-25, 17-25 Saturday afternoon at Stopher Gym.

Nicholls (14-6, 1-3 SLC) allowed 50 or more kills for the fourth straight match, as the Lady Demons (5-12, 2-3 SLC) racked up 63 in the four-set match, including a 22-kill afternoon by Stacey DiFrancesco, who also finished the day with 18 digs for the double-double.

Rachel Yezak led the Colonels with 13 kills and 15 digs for her fourth double-double of the year, followed by Jennifer Brandt who chipped in 10. Jordan Karst finished the day with 33 Assists and 11 digs for her seventh double-double, while Jennifer Dunn led Nicholls in digs with 16.

With arguably the youngest team in the conference, the Colonels were down 19-15 in the first set, but stormed back to tie the game at 19-19 and eventually forced extra points in the set, with set point at 25-24, but gave the upper hand to Northwestern State with with two kills and an ace to close out the match 28-26.

The second set was a much different affair, with the Colonels rolling through the Lady Demons with ease, never trailing the length of the set. At one point the team jumped out to an 18-14 lead, eventually winning the set needing only eight kills in the set to win 25-18.

But the third and fourth sets proved to be the difference for the visitors, as in the third set the Lady Demons rattled off six straight points after a 6-6 tie, and then a four-point run put the set out of reach for the Colonels to make a game of it. At the start of the fourth set, the Lady Demons scored three straight points to start out the match, but the Colonels fought back to tie the set at 6-6. It would be the last time the squad would keep it close as Northwestern would go on runs of two to three points the rest of the match to take the 25-17 set victory.

The Colonels have now lost three straight for the first time this year, and two-straight at home for the first time this season.

The team will be back in action again Tuesday night, facing the Southeastern Lady Lions at 7 p.m. in Hammond.