NEW ORLEANS – Atira Jells went for a career-best 17 kills on Senior Night but the Nicholls Colonels prevailed by a 3-1 score over the New Orleans Privateers on Thursday night at the Human Performance Center.
 
SENIOR NIGHT
Jells was one of four seniors honored and she had a new mark in kills to lead the offense. Maxine Walsh had kills in all three of her attempts. Alexis Parrish went for four kills and two blocks. Samantha Gioiosa was also honored before the match but was unable to play.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Privateers led throughout most of the opening set but the Colonels hit highly efficiently to take the set and made some big plays down the stretch. Back-to-back kills by Yani Johnson and Devon Bright capped off an opening set in which the road team hit .407.
 
New Orleans turned the tide as they rallied from down by as many as five points in the second set. A 7-1 run sparked by back-to-back blocks gave the Privateers a 25-21 score in the set. Kills from Trinity Jackson and Jells were the deciding points in the second set.
 
The third set was tied at 14-14 but Nicholls came up with a run of nine straight points that helped put the set out of reach and gave the Colonels a 2-1 lead.
 
Another close set in the fourth was tied at 19-19 but Nicholls scored the final six points to finish off the match. Aaliyah Burras had two kills in that stretch and Emily Gauthreaux added one of her 18 kills to finish off the night.
 
NEXT UP
The Privateers will head forward to the Southland Conference tournament which starts on Nov. 18 in Houston. Their opponent is yet to be determined.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans are encouraged to follow @PrivateersVB on Twitter, @PrivateersVB on Instagram, like /PrivateersVB on Facebook and subscribe to the PrivateerAthletics YouTube channel.