COVINGTON, La. -- The Nicholls State University beach volleyball team (1-5, 0-0 SLC) faltered in Friday's opening pair of contests at the New Orleans Beach Volleyball Invitational, dropping the initial matchup against Spring Hill College (5-6) by a 1-4 margin before Louisiana-Monroe (5-6) locked up a 5-0 sweep later in the afternoon at the Digs Volleyball Complex in Covington, La.

vs. SPRING HILL COLLEGE (W 1-4)
-- Emily Venable/Emily Gauthreaux (NICH) def. Payton Gidney/Mikayla Boyer (SPRSVB) 19-21, 22-20, 15-11
-- Brittany Bilotti/Kassandra Fairly (SPRSVB) def. Kylie Lockhart/Jackie Alanis (NICH) 21-16, 21-15
-- Emmarose Neibert/Allison Weimer (SPRSVB) def. Devon Bright/Jaida Felix (NICH) 21-12, 21-18
-- Cassidi Sterrett/Sarah Senft (SPRSVB) def. Katie Jones/Bailey Lyons (NICH) 21-13, 21-11
-- Leanne Sorrel/Taylor Hurst (SPRSVB) def. Meghan Wozniak/Halee Brewer (NICH) 21-7, 21-13

vs. LOUISIANA-MONROE (L 0-5)
-- Love, Gabby/Blazek, Julia (ULM) def. Emily Venable/Emily Gauthreaux (NICH) 21-15, 21-13
-- Convey, Grace/Gallant, Kayla (ULM) def. Kylie Lockhart/Jackie Alanis (NICH) 21-14, 21-8
-- Brooks, Audrey/Ponthieux, Holland (ULM) def. Devon Bright/Jaida Felix (NICH) 21-9, 21-17
-- Moreland, Elizabeth/Elder, Abbie (ULM) def. Katie Jones/Bailey Lyons (NICH) 21-18, 21-15
-- Smith, Bailey/Kemp, Allie (ULM) def. Meghan Wozniak/Lilly Bivens (NICH) 21-10, 21-5

UP NEXT
The Red & Gray close out the UNO Beach Volleyball Invitational on Saturday morning with the team's first Southland tests, facing off against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 8 a.m. before matching wits with host New Orleans at noon.

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