HUNTSVILLE, Texas – The Nicholls State University volleyball team dropped its 10th consecutive match as Sam Houston State defeated the Colonels in three sets, 25-13, 25-20, 25-18, on Thursday evening.
 
The loss puts Nicholls' record at 4-14 overall and 0-3 in league play, while Sam Houston improves to 7-9 and 1-2.
 
THE LEADERS
 
The Colonels hit .168 for the match as Kali Schwartz had a team-high seven kills on 22 swings. Kaitlyn Coffey added six, while Kaci Eaton and Sydney Lerille had five each. Jade Piper led the Colonels with 10 assists, Alexa Perry dug out 11 attacks and Emily Venable served up two aces.
 
Sam Houston was led by Jordan Vaughn with 15 kills and Brooke White finished with 10.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
The Bearkats hit a blistering .520 in the first set to cruise to a 12-point victory. The match was tied at 2-all before SHSU scored eight straight points. Their lead stretched to 16-6 and they closed out the set with three of the last four points.
 
In the second set, Sam Houston jumped out to a 4-0 advantage and never looked back. Nicholls made a late run, scoring four of five points – highlighted by an ace by Perry – to make it 23-19 before the Bearkats went on to take a 2-0 lead.
 
For the final set, there were a total of 11 ties and nine lead changes. The Colonels saw their biggest lead at 7-4 when Coffey slammed home a kill, but the Bearkats answered with a 14-6 run to take a 19-13 lead. Sam Houston closed out the set and the match after an attack error by the Colonels.
 
NEXT UP
 
Nicholls will wrap up the weekend with a Saturday matchup against Stephen F. Austin at 1 p.m. Links to live stats and live video can be found on geauxcolonels.com.