Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Mackenzie Neely was named to the all-tournament team after she recorded a career-high 13 kills and helped lead the Northwestern State volleyball team to their first win of the season against Tennessee-Martin on Saturday evening.
 
The Lady Demons also matched up against Arkansas earlier in the day and took a set off the Razorbacks before falling 3-1.
 
“It is going to be very important for us to have a strong right side presence as the season goes on so we are hoping to keep Mackenzie healthy,” said co-head coach Hugh Hernesman. “If she can continue to perform as well as she did today then I think we will be sitting great.”
 
“I was really surprised that I made the all-tournament team,” said Neely. “I didn't think that I did that well this weekend and I hope I can bring even more next weekend.”
 
In the first match of the day, Arkansas' Roslandy Acosta had a game-high 15 kills; NSU's Stacey DiFrancesco followed close behind with 14 kills and Neely tacked on nine kills.
 
The Lady Demons stayed close to the Razorbacks through most of the first set, tying it up at 2-2 and 4-4 in the beginning and then only falling behind by a few points until attack errors allowed UA to take off and win the set 25-17.
 
The second set saw NSU take a set off the Southeastern Conference team as Neely recorded three of her nine kills. Sophomore outside hitter Caiti O'Connell set the pace when she slammed down a kill for a 1-0 start.
 
The Lady Demons would then continue onto a 7-2 lead. The set went back and forth from there as it saw a total of five ties and four lead changes before NSU scored the set point and won 25-22.
 
With six ties and three lead changes, the third set was a battle until the end. A kill from sophomore Vanessa Coleman gave the Lady Demons a start to their 3-0 run in the beginning of the set.
 
UA would then come back and go up 18-13 before a ball handling error from Raymariely Santos gave NSU fuel for a 4-0 run to get them to 18-17. The lead changed twice after that point until Arkansas ended the set on a kill at 26-24.
 
In the fourth set, NSU's DiFrancesco and freshman Glynna Johnson both recorded four kills to help keep the Lady Demons close through the first half of the set. The Razorbacks would take the set 25-20 and win the match 3-1.
 
“Today was a really good day of volleyball for us,” said Hernesman. “I think I am actually more proud of how we played against Arkansas than how we played against Tennessee-Martin.
 
“With Arkansas being the morning match, we wanted to make sure we brought a lot of energy and I think we did a good job with that.”
 
The Northwestern State squad went into the Tennessee-Martin match hungry for a win and their determination paid off, taking the first two sets and earning their first win of the 2012 season, 3-1. Neely, DiFrancesco and Caiti O'Connell recorded 13 kills each.
 
The Lady Demons dominated in the first set as DiFrancesco recorded five kills and O'Connell tacked on another four. 
 
There were three lead changes early on in the set before a kill by O'Connell sparked a 6-0 run and NSU went up 17-8. The Skyhawks were never able to get close again as the set ended at 25-17.
 
The second set of the match was one of the closest of the day for both teams as there were nine ties and four lead changes.
 
UTM finally lost the lead for good when they recorded a service error at the 16-17 mark that led to a 6-0 run for Northwestern State. The Lady Demons won the set 25-21.
 
Tennessee-Martin took their one and only win against NSU in the third set. The Lady Demons battled hard, with Neely cranking out five kills, but the Skyhawks ended the set with a 25-21 victory.
 
Seven lead changes and 11 ties made the fourth set a definite competition. Northwestern State was able to pull out a win due in large part to two great runs sparked by UTM errors.
 
The first of the two, a 7-0 run, occurred when the Lady Demons were behind at the 5-9 mark. The second, a 6-0 run, was at the very end of the match as NSU trailed 19-21. Northwestern State won the set 25-21.
 
“To rebound after a very grueling match against Arkansas and come out and win against UT-Martin was really good to see,” said Hernesman. “Raising our number of kills while lowering our attack errors was a really big focus of ours this spring and it was probably the difference in winning the match against UT-Martin.”
 
The Northwestern State volleyball team travels to Texas Tech next weekend for the Texas Tech Invitational.