THIBODAUX, La. – The Nicholls State University women's volleyball team lost a pair of home matches against LSU New Orleans and Southeastern inside Stopher Gym this week.
MATCH ONE: Nicholls 0, LSU New Orleans 3
Nicholls struggled on both sides of the floor against LSU New Orleans. The Colonels posted a .052 hitting percentage for the match while the Privateers hit .231 from the floor. The Privateers swept the Colonels 25-15, 25-17, 25-21 to secure their first SLC victory of the season on Thursday afternoon.
The Red & Gray offense was led by
Madison Smith who had nine kills. She also had nine digs and four blocks defensively.
Amelie Shalfoon had eight kills and one block assist to finish with 8.5 points.
Harper Holden had four block assists, four digs and three kills as she chipped in with five points.
Natalia Navarro anchored the defense with 15 digs and had the Colonels' only two service aces of the match.
Isabella Padilla had 11 digs along with her 17 assists to record a double-double.
For the Privateers, Armie Hall had 11 kills while Olivia Bartrina and Ryan Williams added eight kills apiece. The Privateers' defense had 10 blocks as Alana Pierce and Hall had four apiece. Vladana Ristic and Bartrina led the defense with 20 and 10 digs, respectively.
MATCH TWO: Nicholls 1, Southeastern 3
For the second consecutive match, Nicholls struggled on both sides of the floor as the Colonels posted a .158 hitting percentage while Southeastern hit .288 from the floor. The Red & Gray started slowly but found their rhythm in the second set, however SLU's attack was too efficient as they had three players record double figure kills to secure the victory on Saturday afternoon.
The Colonels dropped the opening set 25-16. Nicholls played better in the second set as they hit .281 and went on a three-point scoring run to win the back and forth set, 25-22. The Lions committed a service error before back-to-back kills by middle blocker Maya Shirmer off assists from
Isabella Padilla tied the contest at one set apiece. The Colonels lost the third and fourth sets, 25-20 and 25-22 to lose their seventh consecutive contest.
Nicholls offense was led by outside hitters Zaharah Edwards-Wyllie and
Madison Smith who had nine kills apiece. The Colonels' offense was also active in the middle as middle blocker
Amelie Shalfoon had eight kills while Schirmer added seven.
Mckenzie Mitchell matched Shirmer's seven kills while middle blocker
Harper Holden had six kills.
The Red & Gray offense was paced by two setters as Padilla dished 22 assists while
Jenna Cicherski had 19. Freshman libero
Natalia Navarro anchored the Colonel defense with 20 digs which is the seventh time she has had at least 20 in a match this season.
For Southeastern, Ashley Richardson paced the offense effortlessly as she dished 43 assists. Kyra McKelvey led the attack with 18 kills while Keira Beverly and Abby Bailey added 12 and 10, respectively. Melina Gonzalez and Lindsey Wickersham had 20 and 10 digs, respectively. McKelvey added seven total blocks to her stat line to lead all scorers with 24 points.
NEXT SERVE
Nicholls (9-16, 2-10 SLC) will cross state lines for road contests at Lamar (Nov. 5) and Stephen F. Austin (Nov. 7).
