HOUSTON, Texas - The Nicholls State University women's volleyball team used a pair of dominating sets to earn its first postseason victory since 2009, taking down Northwestern State 3-1 (25-23, 25-8, 23-25, 25-14) in the opening match of the Southland Conference Tournament on Thursday at Sharp Gym.
With the win, Nicholls (11-16) advances to play No. 3 seed McNeese on Friday at noon. The Cowgirls (16-10) took both matches against the Colonels this season, 3-1.
Against the Lady Demons, the Colonels used a spread out offensive attack with three players finishing in double figures in kills.
Emily Gauthreaux paced
Kallie Noble's squad with a match-high 18 kills to go along with four aces, five digs and two blocks.
Aaliyah Burras and
S'mara Riley each totaled 13 kills, with Burras swinging at an impressive .600 percent. She also accounted for four blocks as Nicholls totaled 10 in the rubber match.
In the first set, Nicholls went on an early 6-0 spurt to take a 9-4 advantage. NSU climbed back to within one but a 4-0 run pushed the lead back to 17-12.
Lilly Bivens ended the run with an ace and the Colonels went on to claim a 25-23 win. Bivens led the team with 28 assists and
Brooke Weichbrodt added 23.
Nicholls dominated in the second set, winning 25-8 behind a .310 hitting percentage. The Colonels hit over .300 in the final three sets despite falling in the third.
The Colonels saved their best offensive performance for the fourth, hitting .341. Nicholls extended a 15-10 advantage with a 7-0 run to clinch the match.
Defensively,
Kylie Lockhart totaled 32 digs while
Kate Hoerdemann had 19. Biven had a double-double with 10 digs.
