Final Stats Nicholls-Northwestern State Box Score

NATCHITOCHES, La. – Needing a victory in their final game to make the Southland Conference Tournament, the Nicholls women's volleyball team fell in straight-sets to the Northwestern State Lady Demons Saturday afternoon 26-24, 25-16, 25-19.

The loss to the Demons, coupled with losses by McNeese and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, gives Northwestern State the eighth and final seed for the tournament that will begin in Conway, Ark., next week.

Northwestern State hit .294 as a team on the afternoon, led by Stacey DiFrancesco's game-high 20 kills and .326 hitting percentage. The Lady Demons held the Colonels to hitting just .200 as a team, but were led by Jennifer Brandt's nine kills and no errors. Brandt hit .405 and was followed by Sarah Terry who finished with seven kills and .316 hitting.

Jordan Karst finished with 16 assists and ten digs for her 12th double-double of the year, while Brandt led the team in digs with 12. Senior Rachel Yezak finished with six kills in the game and now has over 1000 for her career.

It seemed as if the Colonels were on a mission to make their fourth-consecutive trip to the conference tournament, jumping out to a white-hot 10-3 lead. Although it seemed as if the Lady Demons would continue to make the first set interesting, the Colonels got to 24-21 and were poised to take the opener. However, Northwestern State scored six straight points to rally take the set 26-24.

That set would cripple the Colonels' chances as in the second set the team would force six ties and three lead changes early, but after the score was pitted at 13-13, the Lady Demons rattled off seven straight points in route to the 25-16 second set win.

Nicholls put everything on the line in the third set, forcing 11 ties and four lead changes, and at the 16-16 tie mark, the Lady Demons scored five straight points to take the 21-16 lead and go on to win the set 25-19.

The Colonels finish the year 18-14 overall with a 10-5 record at home. It is the first time Nicholls has won exactly 18 games in a season, and is the most wins since 2002 when that team won 19 games. Brandt finished the year with 306 kills and 39 aces to lead the team, while Terry had a hitting percentage of .294 and Karst in assists with 686. Yezak led the team in digs with 357, while Jessica Addicks finishes the season with 106 total blocks.