THIBODAUX, La. – The Nicholls State University women's volleyball team opens Southland Conference play this weekend hosting the Lamar Lady Cardinals on Thursday night and the McNeese State Cowgirls Saturday Afternoon.
 
The Colonels are coming off of a thrilling five-set win over the UNO Privateers Tuesday night, rallying from a two sets to one disadvantage to win the match.
 
Leading the way with a season-high 17 kills and posting a double-double, senior Jennifer Brandt is 20 kills away from being the seventh player to join the 1000-kill club at Nicholls.
 
Of the 18 team blocks the Colonels produced in the win, redshirt junior Jasmine Harris had ten and hit at a .360 clip for the night.
 
It was the team's first win over UNO since 1996.
 
With the Southland doing away with division play this season with only ten teams, the top eight with the best conference records will make the tournament hosted by Central Arkansas in November.
 
The Lady Cards enter the match at 8-6 on the season paced by their trio of preseason all-conference selections in Wendy Krell, Alex Morford and Sierra Whittaker. Although hitting just .175 against opponents, both Whittaker and Krell have combined for 261 kills as Krell is hitting .319 to lead the club.
 
Morford and Mandi Martin have 218 and 252 assists, respectively, for Lamar, while Whittaker has 24 aces to her credit. Megan Schwartz leads the team in digs with 144 as Krell, Martin and Courtney Moore have over 30 blocks each.
 
Historically, the Colonels have not fared well against Lamar, with Nicholls winning just five matches against the Lady Cards in 32 meetings. The last win over Lamar came in September of 2010 in a 3-2 win in Thibodaux.
 
McNeese State will play Southeastern before heading to Thibodaux to face Nicholls at 2 p.m. on Saturday. At 2-8 before competition, the Cowgirls have faced some stiff competition in the three tournaments they were in before Conference, hitting .188 as a team.
 
With 296 assists on the season, McNeese setter Kelly Graham has spread the wealth around as five players have 60 or more kills on the season. Megan Carlton and Malina Sanchez lead the team with 77 kills each, with Whitney Ellisor's 97 digs leading five players with 68 digs or more on the season.
 
Nicholls is 32-39 all-time against McNeese, sitting at 13-14 in Thibodaux against the Cowgirls. Nicholls swept the season series last year for the first time since the 2009 season, and with another win it would be the first time since the late 80's that the Colonels have three or more straight victories over McNeese State.
 
Live stats of the match, as well as live video, will be available at geauxcolonels.com.