THIBODAUX - Looking for their first conference road win of the season, the Southeastern Louisiana University women's volleyball team (7-11, 2-6 Southland Conference) put together one of its better offensive performances of the season on Wednesday night at Nicholls State (8-10, 3-5 SLC).  Unfortunately, it wasn't enough for the Lady Lions as the Colonels hung on to win a hard-fought 3-0 match by scores of 20-25, 23-25, 20-25.

Southeastern tried to get off to a fast start with a strong showing in the first set as senior right side hitter Jessica Srajer led the team with three first set kills and junior middle blocker Julie Elliott posted a team-high .500 hitting percentage (2-0-4) in the opening frame.

However, after opening with an early lead, Southeastern fell victim to a hot-hitting Nicholls State offense.  The Colonels hit .259 (11-4-27) as a team for a come-from-behind 25-20 win to take a 1-0 lead after the first.

Nicholls picked up where they left off in the second set as an opening 6-2 run put the Lady Lions behind early on.  However, Southeastern took advantage of three NSU errors and an ace by junior defensive specialist Margaret Pittman to tie the score at 6-6 in what would become a back-and-forth affair the rest of the way.

In a set that featured eleven ties and five lead changes, the Lady Lions managed to pull away for a 21-19 lead.  Unfortunately, for Southeastern, the Colonels battled back with a 5-2 run to make it 24-21.  The Lady Lions managed a 2-0 run to pull to within 24-23 and force Nicholls State to burn their second timeout, but a Colonel kill out of the break gave NSU the 25-23 win and a 2-0 lead in the match.

Srajer posted four kills and sophomore outside hitter Kalynn Evans paced the offense with .667 hitting percentage (2-1-6) in the second set, but it wasn't enough as Southeastern came out facing a must-win third frame.

With their backs against the wall, the Lady Lions came out strong in the third as Southeastern opened the third frame with a 7-3 run, forcing Nicholls State to take its first timeout.  However, an 8-4 Nicholls State run tied things up at 11-11, and a 3-1 run after that put Southeastern down 14-12.

After a Lady Lion timeout, Southeastern went point-for-point with the Colonels and pulled to within one point of the Nicholls State lead six times.  However, that would be as close as the Lady Lions could get as Nicholls pulled away for the 25-20 win.

Southeastern will return to action when they come home for a brief two-match weekend homestand this weekend.  The Lady Lions host Texas-Arlington on Friday at 7 p.m. and before playing defending conference champion Texas State in the University Center on Saturday at 2 p.m. Admission is free for all fans and live stats will be available at www.LionSports.net.