THIBODAUX, La. -- The Nicholls State University volleyball program will continue to Southland Conference play this week with a trio of matches. The Colonels will start the week by traveling to New Orleans to take on the Privateers of UNO on Tuesday, Sept. 27. On Thursday, Sept. 29, Nicholls will welcome McNeese for the "Stuff Stopher" home opening SLC match, before hitting the road to Hammond to battle with Southeastern on Saturday, Oct. 1.

NICHOLLS COURT (4-10, 1-1 SLC):

The Red & Gray is coming off splitting the first weekend of SLC play, picking up a quick 3-0 victory at UIW before falling to HCU in a five-set heartbreaker. The Colonel's offense thus far has been set up by a trio of setters with senior Lilly Bivens posting 261 assists, while sophomore Kendall Battistella and freshman Taylor Heeb have recorded 148 and 80 helpers, respectively. The offense is spearheaded by a quartet of scorers with senior outside hitters Devon Bright and Katie Jones registering 131 and 114 kills. Also claiming more than 100 kills is sophomore outside hitter Trinity Vinzant with 101. Senior middle blocker S'mara Riley rounds out the group with 91 kills. Additionally, Bright and Vinzant have tallied 18 and 16 service aces.

Defensively, the unit is led by sophomore libero Kadie Becnel who has 191 digs, while Vinzant, Bright, and Bivens add 139, 101, and 88, respectively. The Colonels have multiple individuals with numerous blocks. Riley leads the way with 56, followed by Jones and freshman middle blocker Paris Dixon who have 40 and 31 up to this point. Bright and Vinzant have added 26 and 15, respectively.
 
UNO COURT (7-7, 1-1 SLC):

The Privateers are coming off a weekend in Texas that saw them drop a match to Texas A&M- Corpus Christi and earn a 3-2 victory over UIW. The UNO attack is led by three individuals that have recorded at least 75 kills. Freshman outside hitter Sophia Ewalefo leads the way with 115, while senior middle blocker Mauri Carver and junior outside hitter Trinity Jackson add 81 and 78, respectively. The offense is paced nicely by freshman setter Kamryn Scroggins who has accumulated 434 assists thus far. The team also has five individuals with double-digit service aces with junior outside hitter Rita Zecchin leading the way with 20 while Scroggins adds 13. Mauri, sophomore libero Micah Hall, and senior outside hitter Kristi Gomez have posted 12, 11, and 10, respectively.

Defensively, UNO features four individuals with more than 100 digs on the season. Zecchin has tallied 203, while Scroggins, junior libero Sheilah Purcell, and Ewalefo have contributed 140,137, and 110, respectively. Carver leads the unit in blocks with 53, followed by junior middle blocker Sydney Gott and freshman middle blocker Courtney Roundtree, who have recorded 26 and 23 blocks. Ewalefo and Scroggins have stayed active registering 19 and 15 blocks apiece.
 
MCNEESE COURT (5-11, 1-1 SLC):

The Cowgirls are coming off a pair of five-set matches, first, they earned a victory over Texas A&M-Commerce on Thursday before falling to Northwestern State on Saturday. Their offense is led by a trio of attackers with senior opposite side hitter Kendall Gluek leading the charge with 201 kills, while junior outside hitter Nejra Hanic and sophomore outside hitter Mikayla Christiansen have recorded 132 and 101 kills thus far. The Cowgirl's offense is paced by setters graduate student Mia Perales and senior Dejah Dade, who have 359 and 179 assists respectively. They also have four individuals with double-digit service aces. Perales and freshman middle blocker Sanni Rantanen each have 14, while sophomore libero Bailey Tillman and sophomore libero Kendall Osgood add 11 and 10.

The Cowgirls post a solid defense that features five players with at least 100 digs. Tillman leads the way with 296, followed by senior libero Lizzy Low (215), Osgood and Perales have 133 apiece, and Gluek (104). McNeese has three individuals with more than 50 blocks. Rantanen has 68, while Gluek and sophomore outside hitter McKenzie Moore have 56 and 55, respectively.
 
SOUTHEASTERN COURT (12-3, 2-1 SLC)

The Lions split their last two conference games with a 3-0 loss to HCU and a 3-0 victory over Texas A&M CC. Southeastern's offense is run by a pair of setters sophomore Gracie Duplechein (296 assists) and freshman Peyton Stokely (250 assists). They spend most of their time setting up junior outside hitter Kailin Newsome and sophomore outside hitter Cicily Hidalgo who have 175 and 167 kills, respectively. Stokely, Newsome, and Duplechein add 22, 19, and 14 service aces to the Lion's offensive output.

Defensively, sophomore outside hitter Hannah Brewer leads the team in blocks with 51, while senior middle hitter Crispin Adams and opposite side hitter Alexis Logarbo have tallied 41 apiece. The Southeastern defense features four players with at least 100 digs, with junior libero Ansley Tullis leading the way with 202 followed by Newsome (121), Duplechein (116), and Hidalgo (109). 

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