Final Stats NACOGDOCHES, Texas – After getting some much needed confidence after two wins at home, the Nicholls State University women's volleyball team went to a place not usually kind to the Colonels in Stephen F. Austin and pushed the Ladyjacks to five sets, eventually falling to SFA 18-25, 25-15, 18-25, 25-23, 8-15 in Shelton Gym Thursday night.

It was an offensive showdown between the two squads, as Nicholls (6-13, 2-6 SLC) finished the night with 57 kills and a .227 hitting percentage, while SFA (11-8, 3-3) had 61 kills and a .207 average. The difference was the consistency among the Ladyjacks as four players finished the match with double-digit kills to go along with the team's nine service aces.

For the second time this season, the Colonels showed how potent its offense can be running on all cylinders as Kayla Burling and Kayla Mashburn each finished with 19 kills to lead all players and double-double performances with Burling tallying 14 digs with Mashburn having 13. Burling hit an efficient .286 on the night with just five errors, while Mashburn hit .235 with a solo block.

Alyse Barclay produced her fifth 20-plus assist match of the season against SFA, finishing the night with 27 followed by Marlee Bean's 11. Barclay was also a force at the net, leading the team with five blocks. Just two nights removed from 20-plus digs, junior defensive specialist Kalynn Egea was even better on Thursday with a game-high 27, with 10 coming in the fourth set alone. Egea now has consecutive matches with 20 or more kills for the second time this season, while setting a new career high.

With the very first set tied at three, the Ladyjacks went on a big 8-0 run to go up 11-3 early to jump out to an almost insurmountable lead to set the tone. The Colonels fought back late to make it respectable, but still fell 25-18 to SFA.

The second set was a stark contrast to the first one, as the Colonels accumulated 16 kills and hit a mind-boggling .438 with just two errors to roll SFA 25-15 to knot the match at 1-1. The Ladyjacks never led at any point during the set, as Nicholls went on to outscore Stephen F. Austin 12-4 to break an 8-all tie and go up 20-12 to cruise to the set win.

After the intermission the two sides played to a stalemate after the first 16 points, but SFA began to go on the offensive getting a five-point swing to go up 12-8, going on to outscore Nicholls 12-5 during  a span to go up 20-13. Although the Colonels hit well with a .235 percentage in the set, Stephen F. Austin still had a large enough lead to hold off Nicholls to take the set 25-18.

The fourth really intensified the match as each team gave up a lead allowing the other to gain some momentum at some point. SFA opened strong and jumped out to a 9-5 lead, eventually leading to a 13-9 advantage. However, the tide shifted for the visiting Colonels as they tied it at 14 forcing a SFA timeout. Although the Ladyjacks went back up by two after the timeout, Nicholls scored five of the next seven to go up 19-17 forcing another SFA timeout. The set really changed as the two teams would find themselves tied at 23 with Nicholls calling a timeout to halt the SFA rally, with the short break working as the team ended the set taking the final two points to force a fifth set.

Unfortunately in the fifth set, SFA was nearly flawless with eight kills and led 6-2 to open leaving Nicholls with some work to do. Nicholls got the next two points to pull within two, but it would be the closest they got for the rest of the set as the Ladyjacks closed with a 15-8 score to earn the match 3-2.

The Colonels will be back in action on Saturday afternoon, taking on the Northwestern State Lady Demons.