THIBODAUX, La.  – The Nicholls State University volleyball team used a .344 hitting percentage to pick up a win in the third set against Northwestern State, but the Colonels came up short for the match as they dropped their ninth straight with a 3-1 (25-23, 25-12, 18-25, 25-13) setback on Saturday at Stopher Gym.
 
Nicholls falls to 4-13 on the year and 0-2 in Southland play. NSU improved to 7-10 and 0-2.
 
Kaci Eaton and Kali Schwartz led Nicholls with nine kills each. Lucija Barac had 14 assists and Alexa Perry dug out 18 attacks. Jade Piper recorded a team-high two aces.
 
The first set came down to the wire as Nicholls cut the deficit to one on two separate occasions. An error by NSU pulled the Colonels to 23-22 and Schwartz delivered a kill to make it 24-23. But on the next serve, the Lady Demons received a kill by Kourtney Seaton to close it out.
 
NSU dominated the second set after hitting .342 and holding Nicholls to -.024. In the third, the Colonels jumped out to a 5-0 lead and never looked back to win 25-18.
 
The fourth set saw another outstanding performance by the visitors. NSU used a 7-1 run early on to pull away for the match-clinching 25-13 victory.
 
The Lady Demons were led by Seaton with a match-high 14 kills. Natalie Jaeger dished out 50 assists on a total of 59 kills.
 
Nicholls will hit the road for the next three starting with a Sept. 29 contest against Sam Houston State.