Final Stats THIBODAUX, La. – Down in the fourth set to Lamar to open Southland play and facing heading to a deciding fifth, the Nicholls State University women's volleyball team rallied and forced extra points in the set eventually defeating the Lady Cards 3-1, 25-22, 25-22, 18-25, 27-25.

Nicholls (4-6, 1-0) has now won its last two Southland openers, with their first win over the Lady Cards (8-7, 0-1) since the 2010 season.

Jennifer Brandt hit .209 on the night with 14 kills to lead the Colonels, earning her third double-double of the season coupled with her team-high 15 digs on the night. Nicholls also got a boost from senior middle blocker Sarah Terry, who had 12 kills off of the bench with no errors to hit .600.

Setter Nancy Taylor had a season-high 40 assists on the night, and earned a double-double with 11 digs. Four Nicholls players finished with double-digit digs on the night along with Brandt and Taylor as Carley McInnis had 11 and Kathryn Stock had ten.

The intensity and closeness of the match is shown in the 37 tied scores and 19 lead changes during the four sets, as there were 15 ties and 7 lead changes in the final set alone.

No set came easy for either team, as Nicholls in the first set broke a 17-17 tie to go on a five-point run to take a 22-17 lead. Although the Lady Cards got five more points in the set, the Colonels closed out the set 25-22.

After taking that set, the two teams refused to give the other any ground to work with in the first 26 points, sitting at 13-13. Again, a six-point run by Nicholls put the home team up 19-13 and rolling to another set win. Lamar still fought back, making the score 23-21, but the Colonels took two of the next three to win 25-22 and head into intermission up 2-0.

The Lady Cards turned the tide in the third when they outscored Nicholls 4-1 trailing by two at 9-7. That subtle lead was enough to hold off a furious Colonel attack in the end to win 25-18, where the team hit .310 and had double-digit kills for the second consecutive set.

What was eventually the final set didn't look that way for most of the frame, as neither team could get a sizable lead to pull ahead for good. The largest lead by either was just three points, with the momentum shifting to both sides throughout. Both teams were five points away from the win in the set tied 20-20, until Nicholls forced a Lamar timeout using a four-point run to go up by one 21-2-.

For the next nine points, Nicholls took the lead only to lose it on the next play leading to extra points, as three service errors during that time tied the game at 25-25. Fortunately for Nicholls, their two leading kill producers in Terry and Brandt used back-to-back kills to ice the match and win the set 27-25.

Nicholls closes out its three-match home stand on Saturday, hosting the McNeese State Cowgirls at 2 p.m. in Thibodaux.