Box Score

ARLINGTON, Texas – Despite Stacey DiFrancesco's ninth consecutive double-double, the Northwestern State volleyball team fell in an incredibly tight five-set battle on the road on Saturday to Texas-Arlington in Texas Hall – 20-25, 25-17, 20-25, 25-19 and 15-11.

 

DiFrancesco tallied a match-high 15 kills and a career-high 29 digs for NSU (8-15, 4-6), but UTA (8-16, 4-6) took control of the final two sets to oust the Lady Demons in five.

 

Emily Sweet recorded her fifth double-double of the season with a match-high 43 assists and 12 digs.

 

Vanessa Coleman came one short of tying her career-high with 14 kills, and also rejected three UTA attacks. To further the attack, Kelly Jimenez posted nine kills, while Nicole Hajka and Mackenzie Neely had eight and six, respectively.

 

Keelie Arneson registered 19 digs for the Lady Demons on the defensive end, and also dished out three assists. As a team, NSU dug up a season-high 83 attacks.

 

In the first set, NSU got off to a quick 4-0 start after a couple of aces by Hajka, but the Mavs would take the next five to go up, 5-4. Still trailing 7-5, the Lady Demons reeled off four in a row after a kill by Neely to take the lead, 9-7.

 

Still ahead 9-8, DiFrancesco sparked a monster 9-0 tear with a couple kills to go up 18-8 with Sweet serving. The run was the biggest so far this season for the Lady Demons in conference.

 

With NSU up 20-10 after a block assist by Neely/Jimenez, UTA went on a 6-0 run to cut the deficit to 20-16. Hajka tallied a kill on the next point to keep NSU on top, 21-16. The Mavs then came within just three points, trailing 23-20, but a spike by Neely and an ace by Sweet won the Lady Demons the set, 25-20.

 

Coleman led the way offensively for the Lady Demons in the first with four kills, while Neely had three kills and a couple blocks.

 

The Lady Demons fell behind early in the second, 5-2, but took the lead after a 4-0 run was highlighted by a block by DiFrancesco, 6-5. With the score tied 7-7, NSU went on a 3-0 run after a kill by Hajka to go up, 10-7, but UTA matched it to keep it tied, 10-10.

 

Still even at 11-11, the Mavs went on a 6-0 streak to go ahead, 17-11. The Lady Demons cut the lead to 22-17 after a kill by DiFrancesco, but just couldn't find the big run that it needed and would drop the set, 25-17.

 

Coleman led the way with a team-high seven kills (.308) at the break, and DiFrancesco posted five kills and 13 digs through two frames.

 

With the score tied 8-8 in the third, NSU took three in a row to go up 11-8 after a pair of kills by DiFrancesco. Still ahead 14-11, DiFrancesco tacked on a couple more to extend the lead up to 17-11, forcing UTA into a timeout. The Mavs then responded, going on a 7-2 run to chop the lead to 19-18. Jimenez would answer with back-to-back kills to keep NSU up, 21-18. Still up 22-20, the Lady Demons took the last three points to win a closely contested set, 25-20, after blocks by Coleman and DiFrancesco.

 

The set featured many long rallies, with five of them finished off by DiFrancesco. She also tallied nine digs in the set, and had already broken her career-high with 22 digs thus far. Coleman had registered 10 kills (.300) through three frames, while Sweet already had a double-double with 29 assists and 10 digs.

 

UTA started slightly ahead in the fourth set, up 9-8, when it took three in a row to go up, 12-8. The teams then exchanged points, but NSU was in need of a run and called timeout down 20-15 to try to rally the troops. Though, the Mavs stayed strong and closed out the set, 25-19.

 

DiFrancesco recorded five kills and digs in the set to lead in both categories.

 

At 3-3 in the final set, UTA went on a key 5-0 run to jump ahead 8-3 when the teams switched sides. After exchanging a couple points, the Lady Demons called timeout, trailing 10-5, in hopes of making one last big push. Still trailing 12-6, Hajka capped a 3-0 run to get NSU back in it, 12-9, resulting in a UTA timeout. However, the Mavs would come out and take the next two and eventually end it, 15-11.

 

The Lady Demons will next return home to host Texas-San Antonio on Thursday at 7 p.m., and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Prather Coliseum.