NATCHITOCHES, La. – The Nicholls State University women's volleyball team will battle No. 1 seeded Stephen F. Austin in the opening round of the Southland Conference Tournament on Friday at 4 p.m. in Prather Coliseum.
With their backs against the wall on Senior Day in the final home match of
Kalynn Egea's career, the Colonels (10-19, 6-10 SLC) found another gear against McNeese State University, powering to a 3-0 victory to clench the No. 8 seed at the tournament.
The Ladyjacks (23-7, 16-0 SLC) earned a 3-0 win against Incarnate Word in their final regular-season contest to finish undefeated in conference play this season. In 2014, SFA has won 48 sets while losing just four. It has been 363 days since the Ladyjacks last lost to a conference opponent.
Nicholls has had a number of bright spots this season, including doubling its overall win total from 2013 and more than doubling last years conference win total.
Kaci Eaton has provided a significant positive impact on the team, and is coming off of her first All-Southland selection after being named to the second team on Wednesday. Eaton has dominated offensively with a team-leading 435 kills and added 284 digs on defense through the first 29 games of her Nicholls career. She is third in the Southland Conference in both kills and kills per set over her sophomore campaign. Eaton sits at second in the nation in both total attacks and attacks per set.
Egea has spearheaded the Colonel defense with a conference-leading 559 digs, is first in the Southland in digs per set (5.70) and was awarded All-Southland honorable mention on Wednesday. She is currently third in the nation in digs per set and was also honored as the SLC Defensive Player of the Week earlier in the year. Egea ranks first in school history for career digs per set average and also holds the school record for digs per set in a season.
While Eaton and Egea have led the way in 2014, a number of players have had a huge impact on the season. Freshman
Emily Weimer leads the team in blocks (72), while freshmen
Stephanie Tobison is third on the team in kills (189) and second in digs (287). Sophomore
Ainsley Marroccoli has a team-leading 617 assists, while junior
Alyse Barclay added 438. Sophomore
Mikayla Miller has the highest hitting percentage on the team, and sophomore
Kali Schwartz has made substantial contributions in almost every statistical category.
Jill Ivy leads Stephen F. Austin offensively with 368 kills this year. Paige Holland has a team-high 1017 assists, and was named Southland Conference Setter of the Year on Wednesday. OJ Olsen paces the squad defensively with 546 digs, while Jacque Allen leads the team with 116 blocks.
The Ladyjacks are coached by Debbie Humphreys who was named the Katrinka Jo Crawford Coach of the Year. SFA landed five student-athletes on the all-conference teams with Holland, Ivy, Allen, and Justice Walker being selected to the first team and Olsen receiving second team honors.
Nicholls will face the Ladyjacks on Friday with the victor advancing to face the winner between No. 4 Sam Houston State and No. 5 Northwestern State.
Video stream of Friday's match will be available at southland.org/watch/?Live=149 and sfavolleyblog.net will provide internet radio for the entire 2014 SLC Tournament, complete with post-game interviews and video interviews.
Visit geauxcolonels.com to find live stats and the most up-to-date information on Nicholls women's volleyball.
