With three Southland Conference games remaining, the Nicholls State volleyball team is projected to make the conference tournament despite losing their last two conference matches.
In the past week, the Colonels lost two home conference games against the Northwestern State and Stephen F. Austin, both matches lasting five sets. Against Northwestern, senior outside hitter Jennifer Brandt, senior setter Nancy Taylor, and senior outside hitter Kathryn Stock, posted double-doubles in their performance against the Lady Demons.  
After winning the first two sets versus the Ladyjacks, the Colonels ultimately lost despite the continued stellar play of Taylor and Stock. Taylor set a career record for assists at 55 and digs with 20. Stock totaled 31 digs, a personal best but one short of tying a Nicholls match record, and posted 12 kills. This was Stock’s second double-double of the season.
Despite her superb display of defense, Stock was unaware of the school record and was oblivious to the amount of digs she had amassed.
“I did not even know until afterwards when coach told me,” Stock said. “I had no idea that I had that many digs, I was just focused on playing the game.”
Head Coach Patrick Hiltz would later joke with Stock, telling her that he would burn her a copy of the match to watch, in case she would like to recount her digs over the five set match.
Hiltz does not see a cause for concern after losing a two-set lead against SFA. According to Hiltz, the Colonels played a great match, but could not close out the match when they should have.
“It was just a matter of finishing,” Hiltz said. “When you look at game two, we went on a 7-0 run to finish that game out. That is what we will focus on, continuing to do those sorts of things to close out games. We are doing a great job of getting to 20, then slowly letting the other team crawl back into position. It requires a sense of understanding to know that its not time to panic, but to continue those things that got you the lead in the first place. It is like medicine, when you give it time, it will work.”
Altogether, Hiltz is very proud of his team’s performances in these last two matches and is confident his team is headed in the right direction with only three conference games remaining.
“We played great but unfortunately the ball did not bounce our way at the end when we needed it to,” Hiltz said. “If you look at the stats and the way we played, you would see that we are playing at the level we are supposed to be at. If we play like that the rest of the way, then we will do fine.”
 With three conference games remaining and a current conference record of 5-10, the Colonels are not guaranteed a spot in the tournament, but the chances of making the postseason are probable. As for now, they are tied with Southeastern University for the seventh and eighth spot in the tournament.
“We should make it,” Hiltz said. “We are not mathematically in just yet, and Lamar is still hanging on at the ninth spot. Something our team understands is that it is just a matter of getting in. We have had very close matches with teams at the forefront of the top of our conference. As long as we give ourselves a chance, everyone is going to be able to beat anyone there. For this reason, we will need to qualify and get hot.”
One road win in the next week and a half will clinch a spot in the postseason. The last regular season game versus Southeastern could play a large role in seeding because it could potentially decide which of those two teams will be the seventh seed.
“I expect to make the tournament, but with that said, we know that we cannot stop pushing,” Stock said. “We cannot slow down because you never know what the other teams are going to do.”
With six seniors on the team, they have made an impact while on this last surge toward the postseason.
“You can tell they see the end of the road, but rather then be upset about it coming to an end, they are motivated to keep it going,” Hiltz said. “All the seniors have really stepped up, Nancy Taylor in particular. I cannot say enough about how she is running her team as the setter. She understands what we are trying to do offensively and has taken ownership of it, with the rest of the seniors following suit.”
Moving forward, Hiltz expects his team to maintain their recent intensity and level of play.
“I expect they will continue to fight as they have been,” Hiltz said. “We have shown a lot of heart and they have played for each other, while showing their belief in each other as teammates. I have been hearing this level of confidence despite the past two matches. I think if we get another shot against some of the teams we have fallen short against, it can be a totally different story.”