ABILENE, Texas – The Nicholls State University women's volleyball team drove more than 10 hours and over 700 miles to face fourth-ranked Abilene Christian on Monday night. It wasn't a wasted trip.
 
After dropping the opening set, the Colonels (6-15, 1-9 SLC) responded to win three straight and steal victory from the Wildcats (6-18, 6-5 SLC) at Moody Coliseum.
 
Even in the opening set it was evident that Nicholls had come to Texas hungry for a win against a talented Abilene Christian squad. The Colonels and Wildcats traded leads throughout the set, with ACU barely edging the Red and Grey over the final few points, 25-22.
 
In an equally competitive second set, Nicholls and Abilene Christian were notched a 12 apiece, before the Wildcats were able to grab a slight 16-15 advantage. Nicholls absolutely exploded over the remainder of the match, using a 10-1 run to stun ACU with a 25-17 set victory.
 
The final two sets both went to extra points and featured a total of 23 ties and 12 lead changes. The Colonels earned a 28-26 win in set three and a 26-24 victory in set four to close out the match.
 
Nicholls had a number of career-highs and outstanding performances in the total team win. Anna Niederhauser played the best game of her collegiate career, totaling 12 digs, three blocks and a career-high 17 kills. Stephanie Tobison finished with a career-high 22 digs on the night. Sydney Lerille registered a career-high six blocks, while Alyse Barclay tied her career-high with four blocks. Barclay and Lucija Barac combined for 48 assists as the facilitators of the Colonel offense. Barac also added 13 digs. Kaci Eaton led the team with two service aces and was second in kills, with 15. Kali Schwartz contributed 11 kills, seven digs and two blocks, while Emily Weimer finished with eight kills and three blocks in the victory.
 
Sarah Siemens (50 assists), Hoover Madison (30 digs) and Jennifer Loerch (24 kills) led the Wildcats.
 
Nicholls will return to Louisiana for road matches against Southeastern La. at 7 p.m. on Thursday and New Orleans at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
 
Following this week's action, the Colonels will face a three-game home stand against Incarnate Word (Thursday, Nov. 5 at 6:30 p.m.), Abilene Christian (Saturday, Nov. 7 at 1 p.m.) and Southeastern La. (Tuesday, Nov. 10 at 6:30 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.