THIBODAUX, La. – The Nicholls State University women's volleyball team faces a tough challenge this week as the squad takes on undefeated No. 1 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Thursday at 6:30 p.m.) and No. 6 Houston Baptist (Saturday at 1 p.m.) in Stopher Gym.
 
The Colonels (5-13, 0-7 SLC) showed promise during their non-conference schedule, but have faltered against Southland Conference opponents. Nicholls has won just two of 21 sets since entering league play, but will look to turn things around over its remaining nine Southland matches. The Colonels are coming off of a 3-0 loss to McNeese State on Saturday.
 
The Islanders (20-4, 8-0 SLC) are currently riding a 10-game winning streak and have lost only nine of their last 57 sets. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi leads the SLC in hitting percentage (.240), opponent hitting percentage (.145), assists (1045), assists per set (12.44), kills (1118), kills per set (13.31) and digs per set (16.90).
 
The Huskies (11-11, 4-4 SLC) opened conference play with a win over New Orleans, before dropping four of their next five matches. Most recently, Houston Baptist picked up consecutive wins against Abilene Christian and Incarnate Word. The Huskies will face McNeese on Thursday before taking on Nicholls. HBU downed the Cowgirls in a non-conference matchup earlier this season. A formidable team in its own right, Houston Baptist ranks second in the Southland in blocks (308), third in blocks per set (2.27), fourth in hitting percentage (.203) and fifth in opponent hitting percentage (.193).
 
Kaci Eaton spearheads the Colonel's offensive attack with 4.40 points per set and 3.97 kills per set. She leads the league in attacks per set (11.65) and is third on the team with 2.71 digs per set. Alyse Barclay has a team-leading 496 assists this season and Stephanie Tobison paces the squad with 229 digs. Emily Weimer leads the team with 42 blocks and Anna Niederhauser has contributed 24 service aces.
 
Kristyn Nicholson (895 assists), Kate Klepetka (442 digs), Ivy Baresh (219 kills) and Brittany Gilpin (55 blocks) lead the Islanders.
 
Kayla Armer (748 assists and 222 digs), Jessica Wooten (259 kills) and Alliso Doerpinghaus (86 blocks) pace the Huskies.
 
Following this weekend's action, the Red and Grey will have a quick turnaround with road matches against Abilene Christian (Monday, Oct. 26 at 6:30 p.m.) and Southeastern La. (Thursday, Oct. 29 at 7 p.m.).
 
Admission to all Nicholls home volleyball games is absolutely free! Come out and support your Colonels!
 
Visit geauxcolonels.com for live stats, video and the most up-to-date information on Nicholls volleyball.