Oct. 15, 2008

Box Score

THIBODAUX, La. - The Lamar University volleyball team used a strong fifth set to pull out a hard fought 3-2 win over Nicholls State Wednesday night at Stopher Gym.

With the match tied at two sets apiece the Lady Cardinals jumped out to a 9-4 lead before a run by Nicholls closed the gap to 9-7. After the run by NSU, Lamar responded with a 7-2 run to close out the match for a 15-9 win. Brewer and Holdorff powered the fifth set win with three kills each and LU hit .350 while holding Nicholls to .182.

"We came out without the intensity to play at the collegiate level and we struggled all night long, but we pulled out the win," head coach Justin Gibert said. "I didn't like the way we played all night and it almost cost us the match."

In set one the LU used a big rally to pull away from what was a tight contest early on for a 25-17 win. Lamar rattled off six straight points with Courtney Trevino at the service line as part of a 14-6 run which closed out the set. The Lady Cardinals hit .282 with 14 kills in the opening set while holding the Colonels to a .043 hitting percentage on 10 kills.

In the second set Nicholls opened up a five point lead and held off several Lamar runs to win 25-22. The Lady Cardinals took a 22-21 lead but could not overcome the Colonels who posted two blocks en route to a 4-0 run to close out the set.

In set three the Lady Cardinals built a big lead midway through the set and held on for a 25-20 win to take a 2-1 lead. The Lamar offense was led by Adrianne Meengs and Meagan Adams who had three kills apiece while Shalayne Blythe, Genevieve Gladle and Kaci Brewer combined for three blocks.

The fourth set started with a 5-0 run by Nicholls State and the Colonels built a 17-5 lead before the Lady Cardinals could find their bearings. Despite stopping Nicholls torrid offensive pace, the Lady Cards could not find enough of a rhythm to pull all the way back into the set, falling 25-17.

Holdorff and Blythe led the Lamar offense with 11 kills apiece while Ashley Todd and Adrianne passed out 28 and 13 assists respectively. The LU defense was led by Brewer and Hamilton who had 15 digs each while Gladle added 12 digs.

The Lady Cardinals, who improve to 7-8 overall and 5-1 in Southland Conference play with the win, will be back in action on Saturday afternoon when they take on SLC East division foe Southeastern Louisiana at 3:00 at McDonald Gym.