NEW ORLEANS - After winning a closely contested first set, the Nicholls State University women's volleyball team cruised in Sets 2 and 4 as the Colonels knocked off LSU New Orleans, 3-1 (29-27, 25-18, 21-25, 25-20), on Thursday night inside the Human Performance Center.
The victory evened the Colonels' overall record to 9-9 on the year and 2-3 in the Southland. The road win was the first in SLC play since 2024 which also came against the Privateers (2-16, 0-5 SLC).
Nicholls hit .240 as a team, posting marks of .282, .370, and .306 in the three victories.
Amelie Shalfoon led the attack with a season-high 15 kills at a .387 clip, ending the match in the fourth set with her final kill. She was followed by
Madison Smith with 10 kills and
Zahahrah Edwards-Wyllie added nine.
The defense dug out 64 attacks which was a season-high for four sets. Freshman
Natalia Navarro had 19 to lead the squad and Smith registered a double-double with 13.
For the opening set, the Privateers led by as much as five at 12-7 but could not put the Colonels away. Nicholls eventually tied it at 15-all and saw its first lead when
Harper Holden delivered a kill for a 17-16 advantage. Holden then served back-to-back aces for a 23-20 lead but the Privateers used a late 4-0 run to push the set into extra points. Nicholls fought off three set points before
Kera Arrington took over with three consecutive kills to give the Colonels a 29-27 victory.
In the second set, the teams played to a 15-15 tie before Nicholls began pulling away. An ace by
Lizzie Kraft gave the Colonels a 22-17 edge before
Maya Schirmer and Smith teamed up for a block to seal the win. Schirmer led Nicholls with three blocks and was nearly perfect in her attack with seven kills on eight swings.
For the third, Nicholls was limited to an .068 hitting percentage as the Privateers avoided the sweep. With the match tied at 17, the home squad used a 5-0 run to put the set away.
In the fourth set, Nicholls used a pair of its own runs to take control. A 6-0 run put the Colonels up 16-12, capped on a Smith kill, then
Tierney Terrell had a pair of kills in a 4-0 spurt. The Privateers tried to climb back with four consecutive points but Shalfoon had two kills to close out the match.
Holden, Navarro and Smith all finished with two aces each.
Isabella Padilla led with 28 assists and
Jenna Cicherski added 19.
Armie Hall led the Privateers with 15 kills while Peyton Cole and Ava Freman had three aces each.
Up Next
Nicholls will head to Hammond, Louisiana to take on Southeastern on Saturday, Oct. 10. First serve is scheduled for 12 p.m.
