Final Stats 1 | Final Stats 2 THIBODAUX, La. – The Nicholls State University women's volleyball team opened tournament play at the Hampton Inn Bama Bash Friday, dropping matches to the University of Alabama and South Alabama.
 
The Colonels (2-6) opened the day falling in three to the Crimson Tide, but was able to take a set off of the Jaguars before eventually falling 3-1.
 
Kayla Burling led the team on the day with 24 kills, averaging 3.43 kills per set, and 13 digs. Kali Schwartz finished the day with 19 kills and 10 digs, followed by Kayla Mashburn's 16 kills and three service aces. Nicholls got double-digit assists from Ainsley Marroccoli (27), Alyse Barclay (23) and Marlee Bean (11), as Kalynn Egea had 31 digs averaging 4.43 per set.
 
Nicholls will close out tournament play tomorrow with matches against UT Martin and Arkansas State.
 
South Alabama 3, Nicholls 1
The Nichollls women's volleyball team got double-digit kills from three players, led by Kayla Burling's double-double, but the Colonels fell in four to the South Alabama Jaguars 18-25, 12-25, 27-25, 19-25 to end day one at the Hampton Inn Bama Bash in Tuscaloosa.
 
Burling led Nicholls (2-6) with 15 kills and 11 digs for her second double-double of the season in the loss, followed by Kali Schwartz with 13 kills and eight digs and Kayla Mashburn's 10 kills and two service aces. Mashburn had the best attack percentage among the trio, hitting .219 with just three errors.
 
Alyse Barclay led Nicholls in assists serving up 20, while Kalynn Egea dug up a season-high 20 digs and had four assists of her own.
 
Much like in the first match against Alabama, the South Alabama Jaguars hit .293 as a team led by Mechell Daniel's 19 kills and 17 digs. Daniel was one of three players with at least 15 kills in the match, as teammate Nikki Gittens had no errors to go along with her 12 kills as she hit .667 for the day.
 
Nicholls held its only lead of the first set when it was up 5-4 early, but a 7-0 run by the Jaguars gave South Alabama a comfortable 11-5 lead that it would not relinquish to go on to the 25-18 set win.
 
The second set would not be any better for the Colonels as they fell behind 8-3 before calling its first timeout of the match. Nicholls would get within seven points of USA trailing 16-9, but another seven-point swing by the Jaguars quickly turned the score to 23-9 and the Colonels would score just three more points in the set to fall 25-12.
 
The completely bonkers third set featured a whopping 16 ties and nine lead changes between the two teams, which coincidentally was the best hitting set for the Colonels with a .308 average and 17 kills. Trailing 9-7, Nicholls went on a rally of its own, earning five consecutive points to take a 12-9 lead.
 
Nicholls played keep away for a short time, trying to hold on to the lead it had, but the Jaguars fought back as the two teams played to nine ties from the 15-point mark of the match. Hoping to be the first team to come through the see-saw battle, USA had match point at two different points late in the set going up 24-23 and 25-24. But once the Jags hit the 25-point plateau, the Colonels attacked getting the next two points to take the lead and won the set with a Mashburn kill to make it 2-1.
 
After the theatrics of the third set, the fourth set would not come close to being as exciting as there were only three ties and one lead change throughout. With the set tied at five, South Alabama outscored the Colonels 8-3 over the next 11 points to take a 13-8 lead prompting a Nicholls timeout. The two teams traded shots as USA held a 9-7 advantage over the next 16 points to go up 22-15 to force another Nicholls timeout. Although the Colonels would get four of the next five points to make it 23-18, USA would close out the match getting their final two points in between another Nicholls one to close the match.
 
Alabama 3, Nicholls 0
The Nicholls State University women's volleyball team put together a spirited effort in the opener of the Hampton Inn Bama Bash, but the host Crimson Tide hit a blistering .514 with just six attack errors to cruise past the Colonels 25-16, 25-18, 25-7 on Friday morning.
 
Kayla Burling led Nicholls with nine kills, while Kali Schwartz and Kayla Mashburn had six each. Schwartz fared well offensively committing just two errors to average .364 for the match, while also chipping in an assisted block and two digs.
 
Ainsley Marroccoli led the squad in assists with 13, while Kalynn Egea had double-digit digs for the second consecutive match with 11.
 
Alabama was led by Krystal Rivers who finished with a match-high 10 kills, and with just 13 swings hit .692 with a service ace and a solo block. Sierra Wilson served up 35 assists, while Kryssi Daniels and Bria Green each had seven digs.
 
Alabama hit .470 or above in all three sets on the morning, converting on 81 percent of their sideout chances. As a team they held Nicholls to just 45 percent on sideouts, while hitting just .120 as a group.
 
After tying the first set at three, Alabama went on a three point swing to take a 6-3 lead. Although the Colonels pulled to within one a few points later at 8-7, Nicholls would not get any closer as a five-point run by the Crimson Tide with the score 13-11 put Alabama up seven to roll to the victory.
 
After another early tie, this time at 7-7, a 4-0 run by UA pushed the home side to an 11-7 lead. Although this would be the best hitting set for Nicholls with 12 kills for a .259 average, that four-point effort was a part of a 9-2 run for the Crimson Tide that forced a Nicholls timeout. Nicholls got nine more points in the set, but by that point Alabama had the match in hand.
 
An 11-0 run by UA during the final set was the biggest of the match and gave the Crimson Tide a 19-4 lead that would be too much to overcome as Alabama had its strongest set offensively to take the third 25-7.