Caley Carter, Colonels’ senior middle hitter and Southland Conference Offensive Player of the Week, showed in last Friday’s conference game win against Sam Houston State why she leads the conference in kills.
The Colonels who are 5-11, 3-4 in SCL play, won by a score of 30-13, 30-22, 24-30 and 30-19 against the Sam Houston State Bearkats.
Carter led the team with 23 kills along with Jennifer Fukino who had 42 assists. The Colonels had a hitting percentage of .312, their best thus far. The Colonels attempted 125 kills and connected 58 times with only 19 errors.
The Bearkats fought hard but came up short even with good performances from the Bearkats’ Carrie Sartain, who had 17 kills and Alisha Fowler, who chipped in 15.
In the first half, the Colonels took a ride on the “momentum train” as they took the first game on an 18-4 run en route to a 24-10 early lead. The Bearkats managed only three more points as the Colonels took the first game 30-13.
The second game was far different from the start of the first as the Colonels fell behind early as the Bearkats “clawed” an early 18-10 lead. The Colonels managed to make a run, however, it proved to little to late as the Bearkats won the second match 30-22.
In game three, the Bearkats managed an early lead but the Colonels proved that in the heat of battle, Colonels will fight valiantly. The Colonels regrouped and went on a 10-4 run to pull out game three 30-24.
Game four started with the Colonels fighting past the Bearkats and never looking back as they stormed en route to a 30-19 victory in the match.
In a quote taken from the Nicholls State Sports Information Desk, head volleyball coach M.J. Engstrom said, “I am really proud of the way we came back in the third game. The players never gave up, and they had confidence in each other that they could get the job done and they did. I thought our younger players stepped up tonight and made a big difference.”
“I think if we can continue to work on the things we need to work on to get better, we can go as far as any team in this conference. We just have to keep believing in ourselves,” Engstrom said.
The Colonels will try to duplicate their performance as they hit the road Friday, Oct. 10 to take on the Lady Demons of Northwestern State in Natchitoches, La.
The Lady Demons will be coming off a 3-2 win as they beat Lamar to improve to 3-3 overall.
To win, the Colonels will have to stop outside hitter Becky David, who leads the Lady Demons offensively averaging 2.96 kills per game, from coming into the contest.
Also leading the team will be middle blockers Priscila Augusto and Shannon Puder. The Lady Demons are hitting .213 as a team this season.
For the Colonels, Carter will have to step up once more and Engstrom will also be counting on a good outing from senior Becca Beall and her younger players.