Nicholls State University women's volleyball team: Colonels Roll Past Northwestern State in Conference Road Opener
NATCHITOCHES, La. - The Nicholls State University women's volleyball team (10-6, 3-1 Southland Conference) rebounded from a heartbreaking loss in their last outing by cruising past in-state and conference rival Northwestern State in the Colonels' conference road opener on Thursday night.
The Colonels entered the contest looking to rebound from their first conference loss of the season, and did so thanks in part to an 11-kill, 11-dig effort from junior right side hitter Rachel Yezak and a 24 dig performance from junior libero Danielle Daigle. Yezak picked up her fifth double-double of the season and Daigle turned in her ninth match with 20-plus digs.
Sophomore middle blocker Jessica Addicks narrowly missed her seventh match with ten-plus kills, racking up nine on 31 attempts. Meanwhile, sophomore middle blocker Jasmine Harris posted a team-high .333 hitting percentage by recording just one error and six kills on 15 attempts. Harris also proved to be the backbone of Nicholls' frontline defense on the night, racking up four block solos as part of the Colonels 7.0 total blocks.
Nicholls overcame a Northwestern State attack that saw three players with double-digit kills and a Demon defense that logged 11.0 blocks. The Colonels outpaced the Demons thanks to an offense that saw six players with at least six kills and saw Nicholls outhit Northwestern State .126 (47-28-151) to .072 (44-32-166).
The Colonels outlasted the Demons in a competitive first set. The opening frame featured ten tie scores and four lead changes. Yezak and freshman middle blocker Lauren Chapman helped the Colonels outlast Northwestern State as the duo combined to hit .538 (7-0-13) with no attack errors. As a team, Nicholls hit .212 (11-4-33) in the first set and recorded 3.0 total team blocks while limiting Northwestern State to a .043 (14-12-46) hitting percentage en route to the 25-21 win.
However, Northwestern State rallied in the second set, evening the match at 1-1 with a 25-23 victory. The Colonels led by as many as six, taking a 16-10 lead, but the Demons rallied to tie the set at 19-19 before closing the set with a 6-4 run to tie things up.
Looking to avoid falling behind, the Colonels stormed out to a 12-7 lead in the third. Nicholls outhit the Demons .156 (17-10-45) to .073 (7-4-41) thanks to 26 digs that thwarted the Northwestern State attack. Addicks recorded five of her nine kills in the third and senior Elise King recorded four of her seven in the third as Nicholls cruised to a 25-18 win.
Leading 2-1, the Colonels looked to shut the door on the Demons in the fourth. However, Northwestern State refused to go quietly. The Demons and Colonels battled through 11 tie scores and four lead changes in the fourth. However, after rallying to tie the match at 16-16, the Colonel offense caught fire. Nicholls closed the set with a 9-2 run to claim a 25-18 win and a 3-1 match victory.
The Colonels will return to action on Saturday when they head to Central Arkansas to take on the first place UCA Bears. Nicholls heads into the contest 1.0 match behind UCA for first place in the Southland East Division.
