THIBODAUX, La. – Freshman outside hitter Gracie Campbell had a career-best 28 kills in the Nicholls State University volleyball team's 3-2 loss to Lamar inside Stopher Gym on Saturday afternoon.
 
Campbell is the first Colonel to register more than 20 kills in a match since Katie Jones tallied 21 against UNO last season.
 
For the second consecutive match, the Colonels split the first two sets.
 
In the first frame, Lamar strung together a six-point and a three-point run create distance eventually win the set 25-21.
 
In the second set, the Colonels showed resilience as they fought back from a five-point (21-16) deficit to win the set 28-26.
 
The third saw the Colonels go on an eight-point surge and then take the final five points of the frame to win the set 25-14.
 
Nicholls held an 8-5 advantage early in the fourth set, but Lamar flipped the script and won the set 25-21 to force a winner takes all fifth frame.
 
In the final stanza, the Colonels took the first four points and the Cardinals fought back and took the lead 6-5. After that, the teams battled back and forth until Lamar won the set 15-12.
 
Offensively, freshman outside hitter Autumn Perry finished the contest with 13 kills while her classmate Addison Phares added seven.
 
The Red & Gray attack was paced by a pair of setters. Junior Kendall Battistella led the team in assists with 29, while Berra Soyler added 22 helpers.
 
Defensively the unit featured three individuals with double figure digs. Junior libero Rae Leano led the way with 19, followed by Campbell (15) and freshman outside hitter Tierney Terrell (10).
 
Sophomore middle blocker Paris Dixon and Perry anchored the squad in the middle combining for nine blocks.
 
UP NEXT
The Red & Gray (2-15, 0-7 SLC) will cross state lines for the only time this month to battle UIW on Thursday Oct. 12 and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday, Oct. 14