THIBODAUX, La. – After taking a tough loss to the South Alabama Jaguars on Tuesday night, the Nicholls State University women's volleyball team will take part in the 2012 Saluki Invitational on Friday and Saturday against SIU, Arkansas-Little Rock and UT Martin.
 
At 1-4 on the season, the Colonels can reach .500 with a sweep of the weekend heading into next week that will have Nicholls playing three home games in five days as well as opening Southland Conference play on Thursday and Saturday.
 
Among the rest of the Conference, the team has some bright spots among the league's top players, beginning with Jessica Addicks who is tied for fourth in the league in hitting percentage with a .348 average. Nancy Taylor is tenth in assists with 6.36 per set, while Brooke Hopper and Jasmine Harris are in the top ten in aces with a .55 and .45 ace per set average, respectively.
 
Defensively, Jeanne Logarbo is tenth in digs in the league, averaging 3.38 digs per set so far, and is one of four sophomores on the list.
 
Nicholls will play Southern Illinois in the marquee matchup on Friday at 7 p.m., while taking on UTM Saturday morning at 10:30 a.m. before closing the tournament with UALR at 5 p.m.
 
Links to live stats will be available at geauxcolonels.com
 
Tournament Team Notes
 
Southern Illinois – The Salukis enter the weekend with a 5-1 record, winners of their last five matches. The Colonels and Southern Illinois have only met once before on the court, coming in 2004 at a tournament in New Orleans as SIU defeated the Colonels in straight sets. SIU is led offensively by Laura Thole's 76 kills and Alysia Mays' .455 hitting percentage. Amy Drabant already has 200 assists for the Salukis, averaging 12.50 assists per set. Mays and Taylor Pippen are forces at the net, combining for 47 blocks and is aided by Bailey Yeager's 4.67 digs per set.
 
UALR – The Trojans of the Sun Belt are 2-4 overall and have lost their last three. This will be the fourth ever meeting between the two teams, as Nicholls is 1-3 against UALR all-time. The Colonels won the first ever meeting between the two in 1991 in Thibodaux, but have lost the last two with the last match coming in 2007 in a loss in Memphis. Trojan hitter Edina Begic is averaging 4.88 kills per set and has 127 to her credit so far this season, which goes along with setter Marleen de Zoete's 10.69 assists per set. Emily Pepperman has 108 digs for the group, but the front row of Begic, Eva Xie, Adisa Hodzic and Danielle Moura Souza have 21, 19, 28 and 23 total blocks, respectively.
 
UT Martin – Like the Colonels, the Skyhawks are 1-5 on the year after playing opponents from the SEC, Big 12, and Big East, with their only win coming against Wright State in their home tournament last weekend. There are seven players with over 25 kills on the team, with Emily Keaton's 49 leading the bunch. Amanda Crask has 141 assists and is averaging 7.83 per set while Kasey Elswick has 145 digs. The sides will match-up for the third time, with the Skyhawks winning both meetings in the 1999 and 2000 seasons.