Nicholls State University’s volleyball team will be traveling to Lafayette this weekend to compete in the Sawyer Camillo Memorial Volleyball Classic.

The Colonels finished the Southern Miss Invitational last weekend winning two games and losing one.

When asked how they felt about the upcoming tournaments, the team feels confident that their potential will allow them to perform well.

“Our serves were able to put the other teams out of the system quite a bit,” Tommy Harold, coach, said.

The Colonels have focused on winning the service points this preseason, as well as keeping a mental intensity throughout the whole match.

“We have figured out we have all the physical abilities, it is just our mental game that gets us,” outside hitter Kayla Mashburn said. “We are really trying to work on the basics. Once we get our mentality down, we will be really good.”

The Colonels beat Southern University of Baton Rouge 3-0 in the first match of the weekend. The Colonels then defeated Mercer University 3-2 in a back-and-forth match Saturday morning. The Colonels used an eight-point rally that they rode to winning the final game. The University of Southern Mississippi defeated the Colonels for the third time in the past two seasons by a score of 0-3.

Harold mentioned it was too early in the season to say the Colonels have found their rhythm or for there to be any major revelations. The team is focusing on building up their game for the conference schedule. Outside hitter Anna Niederhauser said the team has gotten better in playing in rhythm but it is not yet there.

The team will be playing against University of Houston, University of Louisiana at Lafayette and Jackson State University in the SCMVC this weekend.

The Colonels have lost two games against ULL in the 2013 and 2014 season and one against Houston in 2013 season.

With one tournament down before the 2015 season is due to start, senior Alyse Barclay stepped up as leader.

“I think you need every player in this team. No one can play their best volleyball all the time, so it is important there are always players around who can pick up when players are not doing well at the moment, and come together as a team to push together and fight together,” Niederhauser said.

Niederhauser mentioned she used to be really good in ball control but is not yet comfortable in the game, although she can read the game well. She also is looking forward to looking at videos of the games to see where she needs improvement to get where she needs to be.

Niederhauser and Mashburn were both named to the All-Tournament Team following the conclusion of the tournament.

“We played one team that was not very good, another team that was close to our level and then a team that was very good. It showed us the little things we need to work on, “ said Mashburn.