MATCH INFO
• Opponent: Nicholls
• Date: Saturday, Nov. 14
• First Serve: 1 p.m.
• Location: Thibodaux
• Venue: Stopher Gym
 
SERIES RECORD
• McNeese holds a 35-13 overall record against Nicholls since 2002
• McNeese has won 13 of the last 14matches against the Colonels
• McNeese is 14-9 overall at Nicholls, having won four of the last five matches in Thibodaux
 
 
LAKE CHARLES—McNeese volleyball (12-14, 8-7 SLC), coming off its Southland Conference Tournament clinching match with a straight set win over Nicholls on Thursday will close out the regular season by traveling to Thibodaux Saturday to face Nicholls (9-19, 2-13 SLC) in the regular season finale.  The match will stream on ESPN+.
 
The Cowgirls enter the match tied for fifth place in the SLC standings with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and can't finish any higher than the No. 5 seed in next week's SLC Tournament in Corpus Christi, Texas.  A win by the Cowgirls coupled with a loss by Texas A&M-Corpus Christi would give McNeese the No. 5 seed
 
Should McNeese and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi end the season with the same SLC record, the Islanders have the tiebreaker over the Cowgirls.  Should McNeese and Lamar end up with the same SLC record, McNeese has the tiebreaker over the Cardinals.
 
 
McNEESE NOTES
• It's the regular season finale for both teams
• McNeese clinched a spot in the SLC Tournament with its win over Nicholls on Thursday.
• McNeese enters the match tied for 5th place with Texas A&M- CC and can finish no higher than 5th place with the win.
• Texas A&M- CC has the tiebreaker over the Cowgirls since they defeated McNeese 3-1 in the only meeting of the season back on Sept. 26.
• The Cowgirls have the tiebreaker over Lamar after defeating the Cardinals in both meetings this season.
• The Top 8 teams will make up the 2026 Southland Conference Tournament field set for Nov. 20-22 in Corpus Christi, Texas
• McNeese started the SLC schedule against the top five SLC preseason picks as voted by the coaches.  UTRGV (#2), Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (#3), SFA (#1), Lamar (#5), and Southeastern (#4).
• McNeese was picked to finish 9th in the SLC preseason poll.
• As a team, McNeese leads the SLC and ranks 11th in the nation in digs per set (16.72).  The Cowgirls also rank third in the SLC in total digs (1,572) and fourth in assists (11.80)
• Freshman libero Sophia Tocmo ranks 7th in the nation with 5.00 digs per set and 18th in total digs with 470 digs heading into Saturday's match.
• Against ETAM on Oct. 15, Tocmo became the first McNeese freshman libero to reach 300 digs in the rally era when she ended the match with 31 digs.
• Tocmo has recorded double figure digs in the last 24 matches and recorded her first career double double with a career high 33 digs and 13 assists against Oral Roberts on Sept. 19.
• Senior setter Megan Grose has dished out double figure assists in all 25 matches including a season high 28 at Lamar on Nov. 7.  Grose leads the team with 473 assists and 26 aces.
• Grose recorded her fifth double double at SFA (Nov. 5) with 27 assists and 19 digs.
• Junior setter Corynne Hausler is 15 assists away from her 1,000th career assists.  She recorded her third double double of the season (23 ast., 10 digs) against ORU on Sept. 19.  She has dished out at least 10 assists in 20 matches including 20 of the last 21 matches. She is second on the team with 440 assists.
• Gabbie Maldonado has recorded double figure kills in the last 13 of last 14  matches and leads the team with 286 for an average of 3.04per set.
• Ava Henry leads the team with 68 blocks and is third on the team with 241 kills.
• Kayla Wilson has recorded double figure kills in 14 of the last 19 matches.  She is second on the team with 256 kills. Wilson recorded a career high five blocks at LSU New Orleans on Oct. 10.
• McNeese is one of two D1 volleyball programs whose entire staff is in their first year of collegiate coaching.  Indiana State University's staff is the other school.
• The Cowgirls will play 11 home matches this season including two matches in its own Cowgirl Classic.  Of the 11 home matches, eight are conference matches.
• McNeese returns nine players (Corynne Hausler, Carli Banks, Maleah Mutterback, Sophie Twigg, Bailey Foolkes, Mary-Alice Dohmann, Neal Grace Berry, Kayla Wilson, Ava Henry) from last season and one from its 2024 team (Megan Grose).
• The 2026 team also consists of three transfers (Gabbie Maldonado, Harmony Soles, Harmony Jackson) and four freshmen (Sophia Tocmo, Danyele Wallace, Gaby Santiago, Aaniyah Kitchen) 
• Sophomores Ava Henry and Bailey Foolkes are second generation Cowgirls. Ava's mother (Eunice) played basketball and her father (Adam), who serves as the Pittsburgh Steelers wide receivers coach, played football at McNeese.  Foolkes' mother (Shannon) played volleyball while her father (Trevor) ran cross country for McNeese.  Adam and Shannon are both McNeese Hall of Famers.
• First year head coach Tayler Gray made her collegiate debut as a D1 head coach against Miami (OH) on Aug. 28 at the Bearkat Invitational. Gray picked up her first career win, a straight set win at Grambling on Sept. 11. 
• When the Cowgirls and Sam Houston met on Aug. 29 at the Bearkat Invitational, it was a mother-daughter D1 head coaches matchup.  Tayler's mother Brenda is the Bearkats' head coach.  They are the only mother-daughter D1 head coaches this season and possibly the first in NCAA history.
 
UPCOMING COWGIRL MATCHES
Nov. 14 *at Nicholls (1 p.m.)
Nov. 20-22 (Corpus Christi, Texas)
 
*- Southland Conference Match