NATCHITOCHES – The Northwestern State volleyball team earned two match points against the defending Southland Conference champions on Thursday night, but couldn't finish it off as Central Arkansas went on to win in five sets – 19-25, 24-26, 25-20, 25-20, 17-15.

 

The Lady Demons (2-9, 0-1) held a 2-0 set lead on the Sugar Bears (4-6, 1-0), and were up 10-6, 14-13 and 15-14 in the fifth but just couldn't close it.

 

UCA was picked to win the SLC this year in the preseason Coaches Poll after winning the regular-season title last season. The Sugar Bears garnered four of the 12 athletes on the preseason All-Conference teams, and defeated the Northwestern Wildcats out of the Big 10 last weekend.

 

“We really played hard tonight,” said freshman Stacey DiFrancesco. “We played really good volleyball, and it's hard to lose but we showed that we can compete with the big teams in this league.”

 

DiFrancesco recorded her fifth double-double of the season with a match-high 17 kills and 12 digs.

 

“Stacey played great. She really rose to the challenge and it looked like she had a fresh set of legs out there tonight,” said co-head coach Hugh Hernesman.

 

Mackenzie Neely made a big contribution offensively as well, matching her career-high with 10 kills. Emily Sweet aided those attacks with 45 assists in the match.

 

NSU tallied a season-high 16 aces, compared to UCA's seven. Neely led the way with a career-high four aces, while Keelie Arneson also set a personal-best with three.

 

“We work on our serving every day in practice. It's almost part of our defense, and it definitely helps set it up. We did a great job tonight with that and it took UCA out of rhythm at times,” Hernesman said. “Our serving is one of the things that got us to five sets tonight.”

 

The Lady Demons came out strong; jumping to an 8-3 lead in the first set after Arneson had back-to-back aces. A block assist by Kelly Jimenez/Neely made it 12-7, and a kill by Vanessa Coleman kept the lead at five, 18-13. UCA never made a run of more than three points in the set, and NSU's lead was never really in serious jeopardy. Coleman ended the set with a kill, 25-19.

 

DiFrancesco registered four kills in the set, while Neely and Coleman had three each. The Lady Demons only made four errors in the first, and hit at an impressive .323 mark. Neely was a big reason why, as she hit at a .600 mark and also blocked two Sugar Bear attacks.

 

UCA bounced back though and got off to a fast start in the second set, leading 10-5. Neely then sparked a big run with a couple kills and an ace to tie it up 12-12. The teams then went point-for-point to an 18-18 tie when DiFrancesco and Neely registered kills to give NSU a 21-18 edge. The Lady Demons later led 24-21, but three consecutive UCA kills tied it at 24-24. The Sugar Bears missed an attack on the next point, and Jimenez put away an attack from Sweet to seal it, 26-24.

 

“I was really proud of our effort in the second set,” said Hernesman. “We were down early, and with such a young group it's sometimes difficult to rebound, but we were able to create momentum for ourselves and come back. We were able to stay within the game-plan and really battle hard to win it.”

 

Neely contributed with her biggest set of the season, recording six kills and hit at a perfect 1.000 mark. Sweet tacked on 13 more assists, while DiFrancesco and Jimenez each had three kills.

 

Ahead by two sets, the Lady Demons trailed early in the third, 8-5. A kill by Nicole Hajka had NSU down just one at 10-9, and Coleman put away an attack to tie it 13-13. The Lady Demons then led 16-15 after a Neely kill, but the Sugar Bears reeled off nine points in a row to take command of the set, 24-16. NSU kept it competitive, bringing it back to 24-20, but UCA was able to end the set on a kill, 25-20.

 

Hajka tallied three kills in the set, while Jimenez led the way defensively with four digs. The -.027 hitting percentage was what really hurt the Lady Demons in the third.

 

NSU just couldn't get it going in the fourth set, and trailed the entire way. After falling behind 10-7, the Sugar Bears went on a run to extend their lead to 19-10. The Lady Demons tried to claw back, making it 22-18 after a Jimenez spike, but UCA was able to close it out 25-20.

 

DiFrancesco provided much of the offense for NSU in the fourth with six kills. Arneson made a nice contribution defensively, digging up six UCA attacks. Though, the .053 hitting percentage still wasn't up to par as it had been in the first couple sets.

 

In the decisive fifth set, the teams battled back-and-forth early to a 5-5 tie. Neely then had consecutive aces to spark a run for NSU, and it led 10-6. Though after a timeout, the Sugar Bears came back to tie it 10-10 after four NSU errors. A Coleman kill and Hajka ace got the Lady Demons back ahead, 12-10, but again UCA would fight back to tie it at 13-13.

 

DiFrancesco had a big kill to give the Lady Demons the 14-13 lead, but a service error again tied it 14-14. The Sugar Bears then returned the favor with a service error of their own, but bounced back with two straight clutch kills by Taylor Hammonds to go ahead, 16-15. After a NSU timeout, the Lady Demons had a good look on an attack, but Hammonds again was there with a block to win it for UCA, 17-15.

 

“Our girls fought extremely hard in this match and it's just tough when you play this hard and not come away with a win,” said Hernesman. “Though, for us to be in a position to win this match in the end against the team that was picked to win this conference is a huge positive for us that we can definitely draw upon.”

 

NSU will be back in action on Friday as it takes on Alcorn State at 7 p.m. in the Holiday Inn Express Classic. The Lady Demons will then finish the tournament on Saturday at 2 p.m. with a game against Arkansas State.