HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Stacey DiFrancesco recorded a career-high 20 kills and a double-double, but the Northwestern State volleyball team would drop a four-setter to Sam Houston State on Saturday in Johnson Coliseum - 25-20, 23-25, 25-20 and 25-21.

 

SHSU (9-7, 3-0), who already defeated Stephen F. Austin and defending Southland Conference champions Central Arkansas to open up conference play, came back from an early third-set deficit and then couldn't be stopped in the fourth.

 

DiFrancesco had a monster second set for NSU (3-12, 0-3), and guided it to big seven-point runs to take the set after she finished on eight attacks. DiFrancesco also tallied 12 digs (one shy of her career-high) and three blocks in the conference matchup.

 

“Stacey was on fire in the second,” said co-head coach Hugh Hernesman. “This was purely a result of our serve-pass game. We did a really good job of handling the ball which allowed us to set her up really well.”

 

Kelly Jimenez played a key role for the Lady Demons as well, posting her fourth double-double of the season with 12 kills, 11 digs, two blocks and an assist.

 

“Kelly is really starting to play more aggressive for us,” said Hernesman. “She's looking like herself again after a little bit of a lull last week but today she played very well.”

 

Emily Sweet dished out a game-high 42 assists for NSU, and also stuffed a career-high seven attacks.

 

“Sweet can do it all. There are things she can still improve upon but overall we're really satisfied with performance,” Hernesman said.

 

Defensively, Keelie Arneson seemed to be everywhere, digging up a match-high 28 attacks and pitching in with a trio of assists. Jessica Guttierrez turned in a strong performance too, marking her season-best with nine digs and added on with a kill.

 

“28 digs in four sets is a ridiculous number,” Hernesman said. “Keelie had some wide-open looks at some of SHSU's better hitters and she made big plays in crucial moments.

 

“We keep a tally of all of our dig percentages and we look for something over 75 percent. Jessica is way above that and she also did the same thing on Thursday against SFA. She is a very steady, high-effort player that is smart on the court and really did a nice job out there today,” Hernesman said.

 

NSU out-blocked SHSU 13-10. Vanessa Coleman registered six of those blocks, while Neely had five. Coleman and Neely also had seven and three kills, respectively.

 

“This past week we really made a big effort to get our middle-blockers (Vanessa & Mackenzie) more involved. Once we do that, we can loosen up our outside hitters and really keep our opponents guessing,” said Hernesman.

 

NSU trailed 3-0 in the first set before Coleman registered a couple kills to get it back to 3-3. After a few miscues, the Lady Demons trailed 12-7, but then used a pair of Jimenez spikes to go on a 4-1 run and cut the lead to 13-11. Later trailing 19-15, DiFrancesco finished an attack to keep NSU in it, but the Bearkats streaked to push their lead up to 21-16. SHSU would then close out the set, 25-20.

 

DiFrancesco propelled the offense in the first set with a game-high six kills. Sweet dished out 12 assists to account for all 12 of NSU's kills, but the nine errors wounded the Lady Demons compared to SHSU's four. NSU out-blocked the Bearkats in the set, 1-0, on a block assist by Jimenez/Sweet.

 

NSU started slow in the second, trailing 1-5, but kills by DiFrancesco and Coleman sparked a huge seven point run to take the lead with Jimenez serving, 8-5. Still leading 9-8, the Lady Demons broke out another seven point spurt to go up 16-8 after Neely registered a kill and a couple blocks. Though, SHSU would take advantage of several attack errors by NSU to come back and tie it 17-17 and take the lead, 20-19.

 

The teams then battled back-and-forth to a 22-22 tie when DiFrancesco put one away to give the Lady Demons a one-point edge. After a SHSU timeout, DiFrancesco again finished on attack, and NSU would go on to take the set 25-22 after an error by the Bearkats.

 

DiFrancesco was instrumental in the set, tallying a match-high eight kills and a couple of digs. Jimenez contributed with three kills and two digs. Defensively, Arneson was all over the place digging up 11 SHSU attacks, while Neely stuffed three Bearkat balls. Sweet also had 11 assists and a couple of blocks in the second.

 

“We also served really well in the second,” Hernesman said. “We took them out of their rhythm and that helped reduce options for us. It made our defensive assignments a little bit easier and put pressure on SHSU to make tough shot choices.”

 

NSU came out of the break on fire, going up 4-0 and 6-2 in the third after a couple of Coleman slams. However, after the Lady Demons led 11-9, SHSU reeled off five in a row to take the lead 14-11. After a timeout, DiFrancesco recorded a kill and NSU came back to tie it, 14-14. Though, at 16-16 the Bearkats would take four in a row to go back up 20-16. SHSU would then go on to win the set, 25-20.

 

The Bearkats kept the momentum going in the fourth set and jumped out to an early 6-0 advantage. But NSU would answer, taking eight of the next nine after a pair of Coleman blocks to go ahead, 8-7. The teams then exchanged points for 11-11 tie when SHSU took four in a row to go up 15-11. The Lady Demons were still down, 21-17, when DiFrancesco put one away to make cut the deficit to 22-20, but NSU was playing catch-up most of the set and would eventually fall 25-21.

 

The Lady Demons will continue conference play on Thursday when they travel to Hammond, La. to take on Southeastern Louisiana at 7.