THIBODAUX, La. – The Nicholls State University women's volleyball team returns to action on Saturday afternoon, with the first of two meetings against the McNeese State Cowgirls this season beginning with a match up in Lake Charles at 2 p.m.
 
The Colonels return to the court after a much-needed break in action as they last played this past weekend at home. This is the first of five straight matches away from Thibodaux for the team, as they will spend much of the next few weeks playing matches in Texas before returning home to close out the season in mid November.
 
For fans unable to make the match, live stats can be accessed through geauxcolonels.com on your desktop, mobile or tablet, as well as live streaming of the match through Colonels All-Access.
 
The Opening Serve
The Colonels women's volleyball team returns to the court on Saturday afternoon taking on the McNeese State Cowgirls in Lake Charles at 2 p.m. Nicholls got some much needed rest as the team played eight matches in 15 days over the last couple of weeks and has been limited to just eight players due to illness and injuries. Last week the Colonels dropped all three matches in straight sets to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Oral Roberts and Central Arkansas at home. Even down to a thin group, the Colonels still showed flashes of the team's potential going forward, nearly pushing both ORU and UCA to possible fourth sets in each match before falling.
 
As the go-to option offensively, Kayla Burling continued to shine finishing the week with 39 kills and averaging 4.33 kills per set, including having a staggering 23 against the Golden Eagles last Thursday night. Burling still ranks sixth in the Southland averaging 3.45 kills per set and sixth in points with 3.95 per set, while her two aces helped her move to fifth in the league in that category with .34 per set.
 
One player who really came on and saw more time in the rotation was Robin Sill. Sill had 16 kills last week and had a .179 average. Against the Sugar Bears, the sophomore had 11 kills and a blistering .333 hitting percentage with two service aces and had four total on the week. Alyse Barclay had 73 assists last week and served up a season-high 35 against Oral Roberts, her first this season with 30 or more.
 
Defensively, Kalynn Egea is still seventh in the league in digs averaging 4.06 per set, but she had some help in the back row as she finished with 29 digs last week. One area that really stepped up against the Sugar Bears was the front line of Barclay, Mikayla Miller and Emily Philpott, as Barclay had seven blocks with Miller and Philpott each producing six.
 
The Opposition
McNeese State enters the match with a 13-12 record and 5-6 mark in Southland play. The Cowgirls are coming off of a 3-0 win over Alcorn State in Lorman on Monday which snapped a four match losing skid. The Cowgirls were 5-1 in the league to start, but once they ran into the heavyweights the tide turned with losses to Northwestern State, Central Arkansas and Oral Roberts. Malina Sanzhez leads the Cowgirls as she ranks third in the league in kills per set and points per set, putting her in the top 100 players in the nation. McNeese State is stout defensively as a group, ranking third in the league in blocks per set with a 2.06 average.
 
 
Series Records
McNeese State holds a five-game advantage in all-time meetings against the Colonels, winning 39 matches to Nicholls' 34. However, Nicholls has won each of the last four meetings and six of the last eight dating back to 2009. The Colonels are hoping to continue their current winning streak in Lake Charles, as they've taken the last two on the road.