New coach Rima and her Nicholls volleyball squad road warriors to open 2023 season

Although the start of a long stretch of road games to open the season left Nicholls with a 1-5 record through six games, at least it didn’t take very long for the Lady Colonels to pick up their first win of the year.

After losing the first match to host Sam Houston State in the Bearkat Invitational Tournament, Nicholls responded with a win in four sets over Portland.

“It was a great morale boost more than anything. I think the girls played really well,” said Jonea Rima. “I think they had their best blocking appearance so far this year. Portland is a great team. They definitely had some high-level players on the other side of the net that the girls were able to respond to. We grew as a unit that game.

“I think a lot of the things that we’ve been saying in practice, I think some of it started clicking with a lot of the girls. A win is great any day of the week, but I think that it was great to see that success right away in the season. I think that helps with the morale of your team and just wanting to get back on the court and get better and prove other people wrong as an underdog and really continue to grow as a unit.”

Nicholls has since dropped three four-straight matches, falling to Oral Roberts in the Bearkat Invitational before suffering losses to Southern Mississippi, host Stephen F. Austin, and Cal Poly in the SFA Tournament.

Despite the losses, the early matches allowed a young Lady Colonels team to gain valuable experience, according to their coach.

“I think we’ve seen some great competition so far this season and the girls have responded. We are just kind of taking it day-by-day and learning from mistakes, learning from victories, and just trying to progress every day we are out on the court,” Rima said.

Among the Nicholls players off to a good start is sophomore middle blocker Paris Dixon.

“She’s had some great games, offensively and defensively,” said Rima. “She just has that kind of captain quality of really wanting to be successful and leadership on the court. It’s great to have her momentum when she’s on the court.”

The team’s only senior is Jhayla Bolden.

“She’s one of our middles as well,” Rima said. “Obviously, she brings some experience to the court for our young team. She’s had some great defensive games blocking-wise.”

Another top returnee Rima said Nicholls will be counting on is junior Trinity Vinzant.

“This will be her second year as a Colonel. She will be on the outside. She’s a very crafty, higher IQ volleyball player,” the Nicholls coach said of Vinzant.

Among the top newcomers is Autum Perry. The freshman outside hitter made the All-Tournament team in the Bearkat Invitational.

“She’s playing on the outside for us in a fixed rotation. She is just a very team-oriented player. She is selfless where she is really able to connect with her teammates. She’s competitive but wants her team to be successful. I think that’s sometimes hard to find these days, finding kids in a team sport, but wanting the team to be successful as a home,” Rima said.

Although it’s early in the season, Nicholls has gotten contributions from a number of different players, according to Rima.

“I think every week someone else kind of shines out a little bit more, which has been nice. You think you have a lineup and then someone else kind of jumps into the limelight and we are kind of able to build from that,” the Nicholls coach said.

With a new staff, plus a mixture of new and returning players, along with some who were signed by the previous staff, Rima and the players have had a lot to learn about each other.

“I think we are becoming smarter volleyball players. We’re a bit undersized in some positions but very athletic. I think we have to be very smart and strategic about everything that we do. I’m hoping that fact continues to grow and is kind of adopted a bit more. I think that will help us to be pretty successful this year,” said Rima.

The road show continues for Nicholls. The Lady Colonels face a rematch against Southern Miss and will take on Mississippi Valley State in the Southern Miss Invitational on Friday and Saturday.

“It will be a physical battle. They have some nice players,” Rima said of Southern Miss. “We’ve played really well against them, which is kind of sticking to the game plan and exploring some other options with just positional heading versus just going to our outside hitters. We’ve used our outsides quite a bit in the past couple of weeks, but we are trying to include everyone else a little bit more. That kind of goes hand-in-hand with how we pass.

“I think Southern Miss will be a good rematch for us. I don’t know if we really knew what to expect with a lot of the players from Southern Miss and I think being able to kind of play them, play some higher opponents last weekend. I think it should be a good match and battle this week, for sure.”

Like Nicholls, Mississippi Valley is a young team going through changes.

“It will kind of be a different atmosphere versus the Southern Miss game. I think that they do have athletic kids in the lineup. I think we just have to be disciplined in everything that we do going in and just kind of sticking to our game plan to be successful,” said Rima.

After that, Nicholls will play two more games in the Sawyer Camillo Memorial Volleyball Classic against host Louisiana-Lafayette and Prairie View before the Lady Colonels make a long-delayed home debut against Houston Christian in the Southland Conference opener on

September 21.

“I think right now we are young, and we don’t know any better than to just be on the road,” Rima chuckled. “There’s not any kind of drawback in that aspect, but I think it will be nice to have their own game day experience on their own home court with their friends and family.”

What would measure success for Nicholls in Rima’s first season?

“Obviously, I think we all have our sights on the conference tournament to be successful, I think that every game is going to be a battle, but I think if we take one-game-at-a-time, I think it’s very possible for the conference tournament and being seeded fairly high as well.”