Stephen F. Austin
Nicholls State
Colonels Shock Ladyjacks In Five Sets
10/9/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 9, 2009
THIBODAUX, La. - The Nicholls Colonels had not beaten SFA in volleyball since 2004, but they snapped a seven-match win streak by the Ladyjacks in the series when it pulled a 3-2 (25-18, 25-16, 22-25, 19-25, 15-10) upset Friday night at Stopher Gymnasium.
SFA (13-9, 2-2 Southland) remains winless in five tries at five-set matches this season, with each of its last five losses this season coming of the full five-set variety. The win was the third straight for the Colonels (8-10, 2-2 Southland), but the first over the Ladyjacks in since beating SFA on Sept. 17, 2004, in Nacogdoches. It was only the fourth win for Nicholls in its 36th try against the Ladyjacks all-time.
Oddly enough, this time it was the Ladyjacks having to play comeback against the Colonels as Nicholls led 2-0 at the half before SFA hit nearly .400 in both the third and fourth sets before going cold in the final race to 15.
The service line was also unkind to SFA as Nicholls was able to take advantage of eight service aces, including four from Rachel Yezak, who also added a team-high 16 kills for the Colonels.
Ashley Bailey continued to soar offensively, however, with a match-high 18 kills and six blocks, all while hitting .517 for the match. Kelsey Owens picked up her fourth consecutive double-double with 13 more kills and 11 digs, but nobody else on the Ladyjack roster had more than nine kills as the remainder of the lineup only managed to hit .111 for the match.
Junior Laurel Kuepker set a new career high with 33 assists, but Nicholls still managed to outkill SFA by a 59-55 margin - only the third time in their last 12 matches that the Ladyjacks have allowed more kills. Nicholls' .247 attack percentage was also the highest SFA had allowed since a Sept. 11 loss at Tulsa.
The Ladyjacks will quickly have a chance to get back into the win column on Saturday when it travels just down the road for a match at Southeastern Louisiana. First serve is set for 2:00 p.m. from the University Center in Hammond.
-SFA-
