Franco Eclipses 2,000 Collegiate Assists, Privateers’ Rally Falls Short at Nicholls

NEW ORLEANS – Mariana Franco reached 2,000 collegiate assists, but the Nicholls Colonels won a tight first set, which helped key them to a 3-1 (29-27, 25-17, 21-25, 25-18) win over the LSU New Orleans Privateers on Thursday night at the Human Performance Center. Franco, who racked up 1,813 assists in two years at Missouri State-West Plains, recorded the milestone assist in the third set when she set up Laura Piva for the kill as the Privateers pushed a fourth set. However, Nicholls launched a big run near the technical timeout to erase a small deficit. Trailing 12-10, the Colonels…