LAFAYETTE, La. – The Nicholls State University women's volleyball team was beaten by host Louisiana and Prairie View A&M inside Earl K. Long Gym in day one of the Sawyer Camillo Memorial Volleyball Classic on Sept. 14-15.
 
MATCH ONE at Louisiana (L ,3-1) (17-25, 19-25, 25-22, 18-25)
 
The first frame was a back-and-forth affair that saw the Colonels hold a 12-9 advantage before the Ragin Cajuns flipped the script and ran away with the set, 25-17.
 
In the second set, Louisiana took four of the final five points to win 19-25.
 
In the third stanza, the Red & Gray fell behind 9-16 before a six-point scoring surge cut their deficit to one (15-16). The teams traded points until freshman outside hitter Tierney Terrell provided a spark and had two blocks and two of her three kills including the set securing kill for the Colonels.
 
The Colonel offense was spearheaded by freshman outside hitter Autumn Perry and junior outside hitter Trinity Vinzant who finished the contest with match highs 14 and 11 kills. Sophomore outside hitter Mackenzie Pryor chipped in with seven.
 
Junior Kendall Battistella split setting duties with sophomore Taylor Heeb and combined for 33 assists.
 
Sophomore libero Gabrielle Barth led the team with 18 digs, followed by Battistella and Vinzant who had seven apiece. The Colonels recorded eight blocks with sophomore middle blocker Paris Dixon posting a team-high four blocks, while senior middle blocker Jhayla Bolden had three.
 
MATCH TWO vs Prairie View A&M (L, 3-0) (25-23, 25-23, 25-19)
 
The first two sets were highly competitive, but the Colonels were unable to string together a scoring run or hold the lead and fell 25-23.
 
The third frame saw a late surge by the Panthers as they won the final set by six.
 
Vinzant led all scorers with 14 kills, while Pryor and freshman outside hitter Addison Phares registered five and four kills, respectively.
 
Heeb (14) and Battistella (10) paced the offense with 24 combined assists. Barth led the defense with 10 digs followed by Vinzant (7), and Perry (5).
 
UP NEXT
The Red & Gray will player their home opener when they open Southland Conference play against HCU on Thursday, Sept. 21 before hitting the road to Natchitoches to battle Northwestern State on Saturday, Sept. 23.