Match Info

THIBODAUX, La. – The Nicholls State University women's volleyball team continues play on the road this weekend, closing out conference series' against the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders and Houston Baptist Huskies this Thursday and Saturday.
 
The Colonels, in the midst of a six-match losing skid, will be looking to earn a season split against the two Texas teams, taking on the Islanders Thursday night in Corpus Christi at 7 p.m. and the Huskies on Saturday at 2 p.m. Links to live stats and video will be provided at geauxcolonels.com  
 
The Opening Serve
The Nicholls women's volleyball team returns to a two-match weekend after having played just one last weekend. The Colonels remain on the road to take on the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders and Houston Baptist Huskies for the second and third games of a five-match road trip. The Colonels have lost six consecutive matches dating back to Oct. 10, with the most recent loss coming at the hands of McNeese State in Lake Charles last Saturday. Nicholls is starting to get a few pieces back as Kayla Mashburn and Ainsley Marroccoli both return to action against the Cowgirls.
 
The lion's share of the kills during the last few matches has gone to Kayla Burling, who had 19 for her 13th double-digit kill match of the season against McNeese. Burling is fifth in the Southland in kills, and is one of four freshman, including Kayla Mashburn, to rank in the top 15 in the league with her 3.56 kills per set average. She is also fifth in the SLC in points per set averaging over four.  Save for five matches this season, Kalynn Egea has produced double-digit digs in every other match this season, as she sits seventh in digs per set averaging just over four.
 
The Opposition
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
The Islanders come into the weekend after earning a clean sweep of Prairie View A&M on Tuesday to snap a three-match losing skid to sit at 15-10 overall on the season. At 9-4 in Southland Conference play, A&M-Corpus Christi is fifth in the league standings with three weeks left to play, but has dropped its last three in conference to Northwestern State, Central Arkansas and Oral Roberts. The Islanders are currently ranked second in the league in assists per set and digs per set, led by Logen Bourque who's 11.13 assists per set is second in the conference. Ivy Baresh is sixth in the league in kills averaging 3.47 per match, while sitting seventh in points averaging 3.93 per set.
 
Houston Baptist
Houston Baptist has been having a solid year in their first season in the Southland, sitting a game out of the eighth spot in the conference tournament at 5-7 and 10-14 overall. The Huskies are led by Madline Gaffney and Kayla Armer offensively. Gaffney has the third best hitting percentage in the conference with a .311 average, while Armer is fourth in the league in assists with 10.43 per set. Defensively as a team, HBU is third in digs per set.
 
Series Records
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi owns an 8-1 advantage in all-time meetings against Nicholls after winning the first match between the two teams on Oct. 15 in straight sets in Thibodaux. HBU also took the first match of the season against the Colonels in straight sets, as the Huskies now own a 2-1 advantage in the short series between the two.