Final Stats Nicholls-McNeese Box Score

LAKE CHARLES, La. – After going through a gauntlet of tests in the hopes of being prepared for conference play, the Nicholls State women's volleyball team opened up the Southland portion of the schedule at McNeese, a team they lost to twice in 2011.

With momentum in the form of a 12-match winning streak, the Colonels (14-3, 1-0 SLC) defeated the Cowgirls (5-10, 0-1 SLC) 3-2, 18-25, 25-19, 25-18, 21-25, 15-12 Thursday night in Lake Charles. The win gives the Colonels 13 consecutive victories and has matched last year's entire win total in the process.

“I knew our schedule was strong enough to get us prepared for conference, and this win gives us confidence going into Lamar on Saturday,” head coach TeAna Tramel said. “We had a lot of these types of games against very capable teams, and getting a win like this on the road will be big for us down the line.”

Led by Jennifer Brandt's season-high 22 kills, the Colonels tallied 67 kills in the match for a .261 clip, as three other Colonels finished with double-digit kill nights. Jordan Karst served up 54 assists on the night, and ties her season-high she set against ULM when she also had 54 assists.

Defensively, Nicholls dug up 83 balls on the night, led by Rachel Yezak's 24, a season best. Yezak now has the four best dig totals in matches this year. Nicholls also had four others besides Yezak pitching in as Brandt finished with 17 digs earning her second double-double of the year, Kathryn Stock's 14, which coupled with her 16 kills on the night earns her fourth double-double of the year, Jordan Karst's 12 and Jeanne Logarbo's 11.

While the Colonels were able to spread their numbers around, the Cowgirls offense came in the form of Nicole Bowden and Taylor Bustamento's combined 28 kills on the night, but as a team hit just .202 at the net and was forced into 31 attack errors. In the three sets the Colonels won, the team hit .300 or above in the wins, while McNeese did only once.

With the scored tied 4-4 in the fourth set, the Cowgirls outscored the Colonels 6-1 over the next seven points, pushing their lead to 10-5, and over the next several points balloon its lead to 19-12 before eventually winning the set 25-18.

The second set had both teams trading salvos to the tune of four ties and five lead changes before a 9-7 McNeese lead was whittled away to a 9-9 tie after two Colonel blocks brought the teams even again. After a few more ties heading into the middle of the set, the Colonels jumped out to an 18-14 lead, and although the Cowgirls would claw to within one point of the Colonels at 19-18, the team scored four straight points and won the set 25-19.

The third set was a complete dismantling of the McNeese defense, as the Colonels would hold leads of five, six and ten points, running away with the 25-18 third set win. The fourth set proved to be the equalizer as a four-point swing by McNeese would keep the match out of the reach of the Colonels, even with a frantic rally at the end of the set that brought Nicholls to within two of McNeese at 23-21 before falling 25-21.

For the third time this year, and second time in the last three matches, the Colonels headed into a fifth set on the brink of defeat. After jumping out to a 5-3 lead, the Cowgirls stormed back to tie the match at five, before more ties and tie breaks found the Colonels down 10-8. Two Stock kills, a Nicholls service error and McNeese attack error knotted the game at 11. The Colonels would use their go-to trio of Brandt, Yezak, and Jessica Addicks to finish off the match with two kills by Brandt and one each from Addicks and Yezak to finish the match.

The Colonels will be back in action Saturday afternoon taking on the 3-13 Lamar Cardinals who defeated Southeastern 3-1 in Beaumont on Thursday night.