Final Stats THIBODAUX, La. – The Nicholls State University women's volleyball team fought hard in its match against top-seeded Central Arkansas Thursday night, but the Sugar Bears hit .356 as a squad and defeated the Colonels in three sets 25-18-25-19, 25-19 Thursday night in Thibodaux.

The loss drops the Colonels to 9-13 overall and 4-7 in Southland Conference play. UCA improves its record to 21-2 and 9-1 in the league.

Nicholls hit .284 in the match paced by Sarah Terry who had nine kills and hit .444, followed by Jennifer Brandt's seven kills and .278 average as the Colonels had five players hit above .230 on the night. Nancy Taylor had 29 of Nicholls' 32 assists on the night, as Nicholls also had three service aces.

In the first set the Colonels fell behind by as many as seven points during the set down 13-6, but came within two after going on a 9-4 run to make the set 17-15 UCA. The Sugar Bears rattled off the next two points to go up four to force a Nicholls timeout, but the Colonels would only score three more points in the set as Central Arkansas closed the first on a five point run to win 25-18.

After taking the first point in the second, UCA went up 3-1 before the Colonels came back to force the second of three ties in the set at 3-all and 4-all. The Sugar Bears outscored the Colonels 6-2 to go up 10-6, but not before Nicholls went on a 4-1 run to come within one of UCA at 11-10. It was the closest Nicholls got in as the Sugar Bears broke open the set and led 22-14 at one point going on to win 25-19.

The only ties in the third set came in the first four points, and after a 2-2 tie UCA scored three straight and not before long was up 9-5 prompting a Nicholls timeout. The timeout rallied the team as they scored three consecutive to make the game 9-8, but not before Central Arkansas scored four to go up 13-8. UCA expanded its lead to seven at two points later in the match, leading 20-13 and 21-15, getting to 23-16 before Nicholls scored three to make the set 23-19. The Nicholls offense stalled there as UCA got the final two points to win the set 25-19.

The Colonels will be back in action on Saturday afternoon, hosting the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles at 2 p.m.