THIBODAUX – Despite career nights from Symone Wesley and Haley Hoang, Northwestern State could not find enough offense to combat Nicholls in a 3-1 (25-19, 26-28, 25-19, 25-23) loss on Saturday evening.
Wesley totaled 17 kills, establishing a new career high, while defensively Hoang collected 27 digs, one off of her career high. Unfortunately for the Lady Demons (8-14, 2-5), a 20-kill night and a pair of 20-dig performances on the other side of the net gave the Colonels (8-11, 1-6) the edge.
"We're having trouble playing at a consistent level on that second match of the week," head coach Sean Kiracofe said. "Processing that second scout on a day's notice is a learned skill that everyone gets better at with experience.
"The bright side is our Thursday matches that we have time to prepare for have seen better execution and have gone the way we want. Specifically, to tonight we were too passive for the majority of the match which allowed them to be the aggressor. I have no question that will change when we see them again."
Nicholls' go-to offensive threat, Emily Gauthreaux, was the main aggressor against the Demons throughout the match. The senior scored a match-best 24 kills, tied for sixth most in a single match by a Southland Conference player this season, on 70 attempts, carrying the Colonel offense.
It was here fifth kill of the first set that sparked the late 5-1 run that turned the one-point game into a 25-19 first-set win.
The critical plays that determined the end of the second set however went the way of the Demons, after some tense moments.
NSU built a late 22-17 lead after a kill from Audrey Quesnel and an Autumn Gentry ace. The Colonel offense struggled through most of the set, committing a match-high 12 errors helping give NSU the late lead.
Three near fatal NSU errors in a 5-0 Nicholls run that tied the game however almost spelled disaster. The Colonels tied the game at 22 and eventually worked their way to a set point at 25-24 and another at 26-25. NSU was able to hold off both set points thanks to kills from Jaylibeth Garcia-Rosa, with her second immediately followed by a Hoang ace.
Nicholls went to Gauthreaux to try and prevent the NSU set winner, but her swing went long and NSU took the exciting finish 28-26 to even the match a one set each.
The third and fourth sets had disappointingly similar storylines for the Lady Demons. Falling behind early and although scoring consistently with the Colonels, unable to string together runs of even two or three consecutive kills to close the gaps.
NSU was able to pull within a pair on three different occasions in the fourth set, and got within a point at 23-22 after back-to-back kills from Addison McDermott and Autumn Gentry on a late push. Nicholls once again went to their closer and this time Gauthreaux came through with a pair of kills in the final three serves to close out the match 25-23.
In addition to setting a new career high in kills, Wesley recorded her second double-double of the week with 17 digs. Breanna Burrell finished the match with 13 kills and Gentry chipped in with 15 digs and 10 assists, her first double-double of the year.
The Lady Demons return to Prather Coliseum next Thursday for their second match with New Orleans in a week's time.
