Nicholls volleyball team faces daunting task with three games in five-day span

The Nicholls volleyball team faces a daunting task this week with three Southland Conference matches in a span from Tuesday through Saturday.

Nicholls plays at McNeese on Tuesday before having back-to-back home matches against Southeastern Louisiana on Thursday, and Incarnate Word on Saturday.

“This week will be really busy,” Nicholls coach Jonea Rima said. “We pretty much have one day to prepare for each game, looking at film, looking at scouting reports, that sort of thing. Fortunately, two of the games are at home, so at least we’re not traveling the whole week. It will be nice to be back at home and kind of settle in a little bit.”

Nicholls goes into this week’s games 2-10 overall and 0-2 in SLC play. After losing to Houston Christian in their first home match of the season last Thursday, the Lady Colonels fell in three sets to Northwestern State.

“I think our youth factor showed quite a bit on Saturday,” said Rima, referring to the Northwestern State match. “I think the loss from Houston Christian, it was still kind of in the back of our minds, even though that was two days before.

“I think the girls played really well at home against Houston Christian. Had we taken a few sets, I think that would have put them in a better head space moving forward for Saturday’s game. I think they were still kind of looking back on that Thursday match.”

Looking forward, the Lady Colonels will take on a McNeese team that is 4-11 and 2-0 in the SLC going into this week, while Southeastern is 11-4 overall and 2-1 in the conference. Incarnate Word is 8-6 overall and 0-2 in league play.

“It’s good competition all week. McNeese has had some pretty good games. SLU has had really good games this season, even beating LSU a few weeks ago. Incarnate Word is having a good season, too. It will be a tough battle every night of the week this week,” Rima said.

With three games in so short a span, there is little time to prepare for all the matches, according to Rima.

“Personally, I’m looking at all of (the three upcoming games), but I don’t think you can give (the players) that much information in one day. So, it’s going to be one-day-at-a-time with each game that we are playing,” the first-year Nicholls coach said.

The success of the three-game span, Rima said, will be about more than just getting wins.

“Obviously, we want to win. Right now, looking at our season and our rebuild, I think every game as a win more than the match,” said Rima. “We’ve got to start taking games off of teams where we can compete and finish those sets. We’ve had close matches with HCU and even Northwestern within 25-27, 26-28. I feel like some of those games, we should have won. It’s just kind of pushing through and getting that to serve out a win so that can push us forward.

“We’re definitely kind of an underdog team. With us, moving forward and getting a little bit of success and a little bit of self-confidence, that would be huge for our group.”