Box Score

CONWAY, Ark. – Northwestern State was not intimidated by Central Arkansas' 31-match home win streak and put an end to it right there Wednesday night in the Prince Center - 25-22, 25-15, 17-25, 25-22.

“This is a signature and statement win for this program,” said co-head coach Hugh Hernesman. “I felt like we had been close for a long time on beating someone big, and it was just a matter of us maturing and playing more consistently.”

The 31 consecutive home victories for UCA, who won the Southland Conference last season and was picked to win it again this season, was the second longest winning streak in the NCAA, only behind Cincinnati's 42.

“We were waiting for this match,” said Hernesman. “We felt that we played well in the first match but didn't win, and we wanted to come out and prove that we can beat this team.”

NSU (6-12, 3-3) had previously fallen to UCA (9-9, 4-2) 3-2 to open up conference play on Sept. 15 after leading 2-0 in sets.

Stacey DiFrancesco's ninth double-double did the trick this time for NSU, as she registered 21 kills, 13 digs and two blocks to give the Lady Demons their third straight victory. Her .241 hitting percentage marked a career-best. DiFrancesco came into the match as the Southland Conference's leading attacker and ranks first in kills.

Kelly Jimenez was also instrumental in the win as she recorded her seventh double-double of the year with a career-high 15 kills, 12 digs and two aces. She also hit at an impressive .316 mark.

“Kelly carried us for stretches in this match,” Hernesman said. “She played fantastic defense and really played well for us tonight.”

Defensively, Keelie Arneson led the way with 19 digs, while Vanessa Coleman and Mackenzie Neely each rejected four UCA attacks. Jessica Guttierrez dug up five Sugar Bear attacks, and also served up an ace on match point to seal the deal.

“Keelie was all over the place defensively,” said Hernesman. “She made some plays that you wouldn't think a person would be able to make.”

NSU started slow, trailing 9-4 early in the first set. They would then go on a 9-4 run to tie it, 13-13, after kills by DiFrancesco and Coleman. The teams then battled back-and-forth all the way up to 22-22 without either team leading by more than one. The Lady Demons then took the next three points to win the set, 25-22, after two attack errors by the Sugar Bears and a kill by Neely.

Jimenez was huge in the first set, registering six kills and hit at a .750 mark. Stacey DiFrancesco tallied five kills, while Neely had three and hit at .600. Sweet distributed the wealth with 14 assists.

NSU kept all the momentum in the second and raced out to an 11-2 lead after three kills by DiFrancesco and a 7-0 run with Jimenez serving. UCA was then forced to call a timeout after Hajka and DiFrancesco each put one away to keep the Lady Demons ahead, 16-7. The Lady Demons were still on top, 23-15, after a kill by Sweet, and then finished it off 25-15 after a couple of UCA mistakes.

The Lady Demons had dominated the match going into the break. Through two sets, DiFrancesco led the team with nine kills and a .350 mark. NSU had outblocked UCA 8-2, thanks to four each from Neely and Coleman. The Lady Demons had also committed just five errors thus far in the match and as a team hit at a .362 percentage.
 
In the third frame, UCA broke a 2-2 tie by taking nine of the next 10 points to lead 11-3. The Lady Demons then had to call timeout, trailing 18-7, but regrouped to go on a run to cut the deficit to 21-15 after a kill and ace by DiFrancesco. However, the Sugar Bears were able to stay strong and take the set 25-17.

The Lady Demons led 2-0 sets and fell in a heartbreaker to UCA 3-2 in the first meeting. NSU was determined to not let that happen again.

The Lady Demons jumped out to a 8-5 lead in the fourth set after kills by DiFrancesco, Jimenez and Coleman, but the Sugar Bears would come back to tie it, 11-11. Still tied 12-12, UCA took three in a row to go up 15-12. NSU responded by going on a 7-2 run to take the lead 19-17 after another DiFrancesco slam. Though, UCA would take the next two to tie it, 19-19.

The Lady Demons regained the lead, 23-21, and then earned two match points at 24-22 after DiFrancesco did it again. Then, Guttierrez came in to serve and recorded her first ace of the season to end it, 25-22.

“Jessica has a much different serve than what UCA had seen from us in the rest of the match. We had been serving bullets all night and Jessica came in with a loopy one and caught them off guard,” Hernesman said.

“This team is really starting to believe now and we're much more comfortable playing together than at the beginning of the season,” Hernesman added.

The match marked the end of a five-game conference road trip for NSU. The Lady Demons will return home on Saturday to take on Texas State at 2 pm on Raising Canes Challenge night and a Purple Out. NSU will also be handing out a buy one get one free coupon to Raising Canes after every home victory.