2012 Nicholls Volleyball Schedule

THIBODAUX, La. – First-year head coach Patrick Hiltz of the Nicholls State University women's volleyball team announced the 2012 schedule today, featuring three NCAA tournament teams from last year in one of the toughest schedules for Nicholls in recent seasons.

“I asked the team what they wanted to do in terms of scheduling, and without hesitation they wanted to play some of the best teams in the country and our schedule this year does just that,” Hiltz said.

The Colonels will play 14 home games in Stopher Gym, which includes the third-annual Nicholls Bayou Invitational August 31-Sept. 1 to kick off the home slate hosting ULM, CSU-Bakersfield, Grambling and 2011 SWAC Champion Jackson State.

The team will begin the season with a roar, heading to the Show-Me State to participate in the Missouri Tiger Invitational hosted by Mizzou August 24-25. There, the Colonels will square off with the host Tigers and 2011 Sweet 16 participants Michigan, as well as Virginia Tech and North Florida.

After the Bayou Invitational the next week, Nicholls will play in its final tune-up tournament before the conference schedule in Carbondale, Ill., at the Southern Illinois Classic squaring off with the Salukis, UALR and UT Martin.

The Colonels will fit in three non-conference games during Conference play, renewing their rivalry with the UNO Privateers for an in-season series Sept. 11 in New Orleans and Oct. 2 back in Thibodaux, while traveling to face Grambling on Oct. 4.

Southland play opens up favorably for the Colonels with back-to-back matches against Lamar and McNeese State at home Sept. 13-15. The Colonels will have four total instances of back-to-back matches at home in 2012 with matches against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Sept. 27) and Sam Houston State (Sept. 29), Central Arkansas (Oct. 18) and Oral Roberts (Oct. 20) and Northwestern State (Oct. 25) and Stephen F. Austin (Oct. 27).

Nicholls marks its toughest road swing Sept. 20 and 22, traveling to face UCA before its first meeting with ORU as Southland members that Saturday. The Colonels will make the Nacogdoches-Natchitoches trip playing the Ladyjacks and Lady Demons Oct. 11 and 13, before ending the season with three straight road matches against the Islanders Nov. 1, Bearkats Nov. 3 and archrival Lady Lions Nov. 10 in Hammond.