Final Stats THIBODAUX, La. – Three points away from taking the first set in the team's home opener, the Nicholls State University women's volleyball team was unable to hold off the Sam Houston State Bearkats and had its momentum halted as the visitors went on to win the first set and take the match in straight sets 25-23, 25-16, 25-19 Thursday night in Thibodaux.

Nicholls (3-8, 0-1 SLC) was held to just .085 percent hitting as a group while Sam Houston State (5-6, 2-0) hit .206 and spread the wealth to the tune of 36 kills to just 16 errors.

Nicholls was led by Kayla Mashburn and her 14 kills and .212 average to go along with her seven digs. Ainsley Marroccoli and Alyse Barclay combined for 25 assists, while Carley McInnis led all players with 12 digs.

A fierce battle in the first set led to six ties and two lead changes through much of the opening frame between the two teams. With the score 19-15 in favor of the Bearkats, the Colonels rallied earning the next four points to tie the set at 19. Sam Houston took the next point to go up by one, but not before Nicholls captured the next three points to go up 22-20. The Nicholls offense stalled allowing Sam Houston State to go back up 23-22 forcing a Colonel timeout.

The timeout helped as Nicholls got the next point back to tie it at 23 on a kill by Kali Schwartz, but the Bearkats ended the threat taking the next two points to win the set 25-23.

The second set was not kind to Nicholls offensively as they had 10 errors to go along with their ten kills in the set while converting only 45 percent of their sideout opportunities. Nicholls knotted the game at five early on, but Sam went on to score the next five to go up 10-5 and never looked back leading by as many as nine points to take the second set 25-16.

The Colonels had a lot more fight in the second set holding steady by jumping out to an early lead and fending off the Bearkat attack. Still, Sam Houston State began to gain some momentum and went on a big rally to turn a 11-9 deficit into 15-11 lead forcing Nicholls into a timeout. Nicholls would only come within four points of Sam Houston State for the rest of the match as the Bearkats closed it out with a 25-19 set win.

The Colonels will be back in action on Saturday hosting the Lamar Cardinals at 2 p.m. in Stopher Gym.