Final Stats Nicholls-Southeastern Final Box Score

HAMMOND, La. - Dropping the first set to Southeastern Tuesday night in Hammond, the Colonels needed a spark to not only win a conference match on the road, but also snap a three-match losing streak in the process. The Colonels would take the second, third and rally to win the fourth and defeat the Lady Lions 3-1, 23-25, 26-24, 25-17, 25-23.

The Colonels (15-6, 2-3 SLC) were paced by Jennifer Brandt's 13 kills, and Jessica Addicks and Rachel Yezak's 11 kills each. Jordan Karst finished with 44 assists on the night and led the team in digs with 16 for her seventh double-double of the year. Yezak was right behind her with 14 and earned her fifth double-double of the year.

“I think having Nancy Taylor in there gave us a spark, and so did Carley giving us new energy,” head coach TeAna Tramel said. “It's what we needed to have at this point, showing that we have depth in our lineup after the injuries we've sustained throughout the year.”

The Colonels and Lady Lions traded points early in the first set, as there were seven ties in the first 20 points. The largest lead at that point was three by the Lady Lions up 10-7, which they would extend to four at 13-9, but Nicholls clawed away at the lead using a three point rally to come within one of the Lady Lions at 13-12.

That rally seemed to energize the Colonel squad, as they would tie the game at 15-15, outscoring the Lady Lions 8-2 over the next ten points. An ace by Karst with the score tied 16-16 gave Nicholls its first lead of the match at 17-16, which became an 18-16 lead after a Southeastern attack error.

The Lady Lions tied the game at 20-20 after scoring three straight points, before a Rachel Yezak kill gave the Colonels a 21-20 lead. It would be the last time the Colonels held the lead in the set, as the Lady Lions would tie the game at 22-22, then go on to score three of the next four point attempts to win the first set 25-23.

Southeastern jumped out to a 6-2 lead to start the second set, as the Colonels made a lineup change to Carley McInnis at libero. While adjusting, Southeastern would grow that lead to 10-5, before a service error halted the Southeastern rally at 10-6. Nicholls would go on rallies of three and two points to make the set close early, getting to within two of Southeastern at 12-10, and would get to within one point at 14-13, but each time Southeastern would get a kill to halt the Nicholls momentum at that point.

At 15-13, the Colonels scored four straight to take the first lead of the set at 17-15 over the home team as Southeastern called a timeout to try and stop the shifting tide in Nicholls' favor.  The teams would split the next four points, before a Brandt kill put the Colonels within five points of splitting the match at 20-17. However, Southeastern outscored the Colonels 4-1 to tie the game at 21-21, which would become 22-22 after trading points on the next two points.

That evaporated lead would come back to haunt the Colonels, as the Lady Lions paced by Dollison helped Southeastern retake the lead at 23-22, but would lose that lead as the Colonels would score the next two points as Nancy Taylor earned a kill and subsequent ace to put the Colonels up 24-23. A Donald kill meant extra points for the set, but Terry squashed the comeback attempt with a kill and assisted block with Brandt to secure the 26-24 win.

There would be five ties and six lead changes after the first ten points in the third set, as the Colonels found a way to keep Southeastern on edge, eventually taking an 8-5 lead after three straight points before the Lady Lions needed to call a timeout to cool of the Colonels, but it ballooned to 10-5 after the Colonels added two more points on the back of the break.

The Lady Lions would then outscore the Colonels 7-2 over the next nine points to tie the set at 12-12, before two Yezak kills gave Nicholls a two-point lead at 14-12. Two straight points by the Lady Lions tied the game at 14-14, but Nicholls would then score three straight to take a 17-14 lead. Nicholls would have five straight at 19-14 before Southeastern broke the run making it 19-15, but the Colonels were first to 20 after a Yezak kill. After that the Lady Lions could only watch the Colonels put away the rest of the set 25-17.

Back-to-back blocks and an attack error had the Colonels up 3-0 in the fourth set, as the Colonels jumped to a 6-2 lead when Southeastern needed to call timeout. The Lady Lions would score four of the next five points to make the set close at 7-6, before a Sara Terry block gave the Colonels an 8-6 lead. For the next few points the teams would trade one each, with the Colonels maintaining a at least a two point lead up until 11-9 when the Colonels expanded the lead to 13-10.

The Colonels would call a timeout with the score tied 15-15 as Southeastern scored four straight, and then six straight taking a 17-15 lead, before the Colonels stopped the rally to pull within one of Southeastern.  The home team would extend its lead to 22-19 behind the play of Grayson to in the Lady Lion rotation, but three straight by the Colonels tied the score at 22.

The Colonels would fall behind 23-22 and tie the game at 23-23, when Sarah Terry denied the Lady Lions on back to back plays to take the set and the match.

The Colonels will return to action this Saturday morning hosting the Sam Houston State Bearkats at 11 a.m. at Stopher Gym.