Box Score

THIBODAUX – Stacey DiFrancesco's career-high 22 kills, 18 digs and .216 attack percentage led Northwestern State past Nicholls State Saturday in a conference matchup in Stopher Gym – 28-26, 18-25, 25-20 and 25-17.

 

It was the eighth double-double of the year for DiFrancesco, who also tallied two aces, a block and an assist to give NSU (5-12, 2-3) the four set victory over the Colonels (14-6, 1-3).

 

“Stacey has been doing this consistently for us in the last couple of weeks. She knew the scouting report really well and that also led to her great defensive showing,” said co-head coach Hugh Hernesman. “This was definitely a really good, complete performance for her.”

 

Vanessa Coleman also was a huge contributor for the Lady Demons, posting a career-high 15 kills and also three blocks and a .429 mark.

 

“This was Vanessa's coming out party. We've seen her do this for sets at a time, but for her to have this much of a bounce in her step for four sets was really nice to see,” said Hernesman. “Having Vanessa make such a big contribution definitely frees up Stacey and Kelly and makes us that much more dangerous.”

 

Emily Sweet was another Lady Demon who set a career-high with 47 assists, and five digs, two blocks and a kill to go with it.

 

“Sweet did a really good job of spreading out the ball and putting our attackers in good situations,” Hernesman said. “Our service receiving was really on today, and I'm sure she'd be the first to say that our passing in the back row really made it easier for her to put us in those situations.”

 

Kelly Jimenez recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 13 kills and 10 digs. Jimenez had four assists and two blocks on top of that.

 

“Kelly has had a good streak of quality matches for us now. Her out-of-system hitting was tremendous today and she was really effective in mixing up her big and safer swings,” Hernesman said.

 

Nicholls State started the year going 13-3 in the non-conference schedule and came into conference play at the top of the standings.

 

“This is a big conference win, on the road against a quality opponent. This is a team that we lost to twice last year and they had a great pre-conference again this season,” said Hernesman.

 

In a thrilling first set, the Colonels led 3-0 early; but after the Lady Demons tied it 3-3 the teams exchanged points all the way up to 12-12 with neither team leading by more than two.

 

After Nicholls took a modest 15-13 lead, NSU reeled off six points in a row to go up 19-15. Mackenzie Neely registered a couple kills during the run with Keelie Arneson serving. Nicholls then responded by taking three in a row to make it 19-18, and the teams started trading points again to make it 23-23. NSU had a set point at 24-23 after a big kill by Nicole Hajka, but the Colonels used a block to take two straight and go up 25-24.

 

After NSU saved a set point to make it 25-25, Nicholls then saved a set point to tie it at 26-26. Coleman then took over by spiking two straight to give the Lady Demons the set, 28-26.

 

DiFrancesco and Coleman were both huge in the first, recording eight and five kills, respectively. DiFrancesco also had seven digs and two aces in the set, while Arneson tallied eight digs, two assists and an ace. Coleman hit at a .714 mark, and DiFrancesco was at .333.

 

The second set started much like the first with the teams even at 6-6. Nicholls took the next three to go up 9-6, but the Lady Demons quickly got things tied again at 10-10 after some Colonels miscues. With the score still tied 14-14, the Colonels took control by reeling off six in a row to go up 20-14. Nicholls had all the momentum after this and took the set, 25-18.

 

Coleman was still the hot hand in the second, adding on five more kills to keep her hitting percentage at .500 through two sets.

 

With the score tied 6-6 in the third, DiFrancesco and Neely each had kills and a block to propel NSU on a 6-0 run to go up 12-6. Still leading 15-10, the Lady Demons took four in a row after back-to-back aces by Neely to go up 19-10. Nicholls then started chipping away at the lead and cut the deficit to 23-19, but it wasn't nearly enough as DiFrancesco and Jimenez tallied kills to end it, 25-20.

 

DiFrancesco and Jimenez each had five kills to lead the offense, while Coleman put away three. Coleman's hitting percentage through three sets was .476 and Jimenez was at .269. DiFrancesco already had a double-double at this point of the match, with team-highs of 16 kills and 14 digs.

 

Coleman kept it going in the fourth and got the Lady Demons up 6-3 after a couple more kills. After the Colonels tied it 7-7, NSU went on a 4-1 run to go back up after a Neely kill, 11-8. Later leading 13-11, NSU went on a 6-2 run after two more Neely kills to push the lead up to 19-13. NSU then finished it off on a kill by DiFrancesco, 25-17, capping off her 22 kills.

 

This marked the first time that NSU volleyball swept a conference weekend road trip since 2007.

 

The Lady Demons will take the court again on Wednesday when they travel to Conway, Ark. for a rematch against the defending Southland Conference champions Central Arkansas. The Sugar Bears won the first meeting on Sept. 15 in a very close five sets.