Final Stats Southeastern-Nicholls Box Score

THIBODAUX, La. - Down two sets to one, the Nicholls women's volleyball team rallied to win the fourth and fifth sets in thrilling fashion and defeated the Southeastern Lady Lions 3-2, 25-12, 25-27, 21-25, 25-17, 18-16, Tuesday night in Thibodaux.

The Colonels (16-9, 3-6 SLC) snapped a three-match losing streak and sweep the season series with the Lady Lions (4-22, 0-9 SLC).

Led by Jennifer Brandt's 17 kills and 14 digs, the Colonels had four players with double-digit kills including Jessica Addicks' 16, Sara Terry's 14 and Kathryn Stock's 10. Jordan Karst finished the night with 49 assists and 16 digs for the Colonels for her ninth double-double of the year, as Rachel Yezak Brandt and Jennifer Dunn all finished with 14 digs each.

After winning the first set with a dominating 25-12 first set, the Colonels jumped out of the gate in the second with a 10-4 lead. Although it seemed as if the team would roll to a second-set victory, the Lady Lions found an offensive rhythm that eventually tied the game at 12-12. From that point, every time the Colonels would take the lead, Southeastern clawed back to the tune of ten ties for the duration of the set.

Southeastern finally took the lead after the score was tied at 20-20 on a Kinsey Williams kill to give the Lady Lions their first lead of the set. Even with set point at 24-21, the Colonels earned three straight points on a Brandt kill, and two unforced Southeastern errors to tie the game at 24. A Lady Lion kill, followed by another Brandt kill tied the game at 25, but that was the last point that the Colonels would score in the set as Southeastern would close the second set with kills by Paige Dollison and Taylor Buckner.

The Lady Lions seemed to take that momentum into the third set, maintaining a decent lead in the opening points of the set. But determined to keep things interesting, the Colonels were able to tie the game at 10-10. Soon after, Southeastern capitalized on Colonel mistakes and rattled off seven straight points to take a 17-10 lead. Although the Colonels would go on two runs of three points to make the set close, the Lady Lions had enough of a lead and won the set 25-21.

Winning two sets for the first time since conference started, the Lady Lions and Colonels battled to four ties in the first eight points in the fourth set. But included in that last tie was a four point rally that the Colonels used to take a 7-4 lead. From that point the Colonels never relinquished the lead to Southeastern, going on runs of four points, four times in the set to win 25-17.

The crucial fifth set seemed more like a rollercoaster ride rather than a volleyball match, as there would be eight ties and five lead changes, with each team teetering on the verge of victory. After taking five of the first eight points and holding a 5-3 lead, Nicholls fired off another four point swing to take a 7-5 lead to force a Southeastern timeout. Scoring five of the next eight points, the Colonels held a 12-8 and was three points away from the win.

However, five consecutive points from the Lady Lions halted the Colonel attack, going up 13-12 before a Nicholls timeout was called. After the Colonels tied the match at 13-13 with a Brandt kill, each team traded salvos, with one team taking the lead before the set was tied once again. This process would continue for the next five points, until the game was tied 16-16 on an assisted block by Terry and Karst on a Courtney Donald error. Donald would hit into two more errors after that giving the Colonels the 18-16 set and match win.

The Colonels never had more than six errors in any set, and converted 62-percent of side out opportunities in the match.

The Lady Lions would finish with five players with ten or more kills in the match, but as a team they hit .190, with 27 attack errors, six serving and seven receiving errors on the night. Williams was their most productive player, hitting .435 with ten kills and no errors on 23 swings. 

The Colonels will be back in action Saturday, traveling to face the Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks in Nacogdoches at 1 p.m.