Final Stats THIBODAUX, La. – The Nicholls State University women's volleyball team closed out a long road trip on Saturday afternoon, taking on the Abilene Christian Wildcats at Moody Coliseum, falling in straight sets 25-19, 25-14, 25-20 Saturday afternoon.

Nicholls (3-11, 0-4 SLC) has lost its last five matches in a row, with four of the five losses coming via sweep. Abilene Christian earns its first win as members of the Southland Conference, improving to 5-7 on the year and 1-3 in league play.

Kayla Burling led all players with nine kills and a .161 hitting percentage for Nicholls to go along with her team-leading 14 digs, followed by Brooke Fonseca's seven and .167 attack percentage. Marlee Bean had 15 assists while Alyse Barclay had 10.

Although ACU did not have a player with double-digit kills, the Wildcats were efficient as a team attacking finishing the day with a team average of .229. They hit above .200 in all three sets, finishing with double-digit kills in each. Abilene Christian also played well defensively, with five players accumulating 10 or more digs on the day.

There were six ties and three lead changes, the second most of the match between the two teams, as Nicholls held a 13-11 advantage in the first set. However, ACU would then go on a 5-0 run to take a 16-13 lead and hold on for the duration of the set to go up 1-0, winning 25-19.

The Colonels never challenged the Wildcats in the second set, as Nicholls had its worst set offensively in the frame with just eight kills and a 41 percent conversion rates on side outs. At one point, ACU led 16-9 prompting a Nicholls timeout. The Colonels were able to string a few points together, but the lead would be too great to overcome, falling 25-14.

Nicholls put together a much better fight out of the intermission into the third set, forcing seven ties and four lead changes. The Colonels started out the set falling behind 9-3, but fought through eventually tying the set at 10. From that point, neither team was able to gain a big advantage and fought through the other taking a short lead. The Colonels held its last lead leading 19-18 before ACU earned four straight to go up 22-19, holding Nicholls to just one more point for the rest of the match to claim the set 25-20.

The Colonels will have a quick turnaround, playing three home matches in five days beginning Tuesday night hosting the Houston Baptist Huskies.