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THIBODAUX, La. – The Nicholls State University volleyball team clicked on all cylinders in its straight-set victory over Southeastern Louisiana University Thursday night at Stopher Gym.

Colonel fans showed up in force for the home opener, and the Red and Grey did not disappoint, finishing with a 40-29 kills margin and 11-3 aces advantage. Junior outside hitter Jennifer Olivarez totaled a match- and career-high 10 kills as one of six Colonels with multiple kills. Seniors Jade Piper and Alexa Perry and junior Emily Venable accumulated multiple service aces. The Red and Gray posted a .276 attacking percentage, the highest in a league match since Oct. 29, 2016.

"We haven't had an opportunity to play here in front of our home crowd at Nicholls and we had a great turnout," Nicholls head coach Jay Van Vark said. "We were really pleased with the young athletes that were able to generate that offense around the Southeastern block tonight. It was really great to see our girls run over at the end of the match and high-five and thank everyone for showing up."

The two sides traded points early in the first set when the Colonels took advantage of three Lady Lion (1-13, 0-3 SLC) errors during a four-point spurt to take a 7-5 lead. Nicholls (3-14, 1-3 SLC) pulled away midway through the frame, tallying seven of the next nine points after a 7-7 tie to grab a 14-9 advantage. Ahead 16-12, senior Brieanna Hill smashed a kill to spark another 4-0 run, pushing the Colonels to a 20-12 margin that could not be erased.

Nicholls called a timeout down 5-2 in the second set and rallied back from down 10-6 to tie the frame at 10 apiece. The two sides went back and forth but the Colonels grabbed their only lead of the set at 24-23 on a kill from junior Heidi Carpenter. Freshman Katie Jones came off the bench and iced the set with an ace to give Nicholls a 2-0 lead. Olivarez pounded six kills in the period while sophomore Kimberly Iwunze converted on 5-of-6 attack attempts.

The Colonels scored seven of the first 10 points in the deciding frame with the help of two Hill kills and two Perry aces. SLU battled back to force six ties, but Nicholls used a 5-1 scoring barrage in the latter part of the set to claim its first SLC sweep since 2015.

The Colonels return to Stopher Gym Saturday, facing Northwestern State at 11 a.m.

To stay up to date with Nicholls volleyball, follow the team on Instagram and Twitter @Nicholls_VB.