ARLINGTON, Tex. – Mackenzie Neely hammered down a career-high 16 kills in Northwestern State volleyball's win over Southern Mississippi Friday evening. 

The Lady Demons (3-4) took down the Golden Eagles in three sets, winning 25-23, 25-20 and 25-23.
NSU's Stacey DiFrancesco added 10 kills to the offensive effort.

“The way USM was blocking the ball was giving Mackenzie some good looks,” said co-head coach Hugh Hernesman. “I think Sweet did a very good job of getting the ball to Mackenzie in really good situations where she could kill it. So, while Mackenzie gets the credit, I think Sweet did very good as well.”

Northwestern State trailed in the beginning of the first set until a ball handling error by USM's Kristen Fleming gave the Lady Demons a 3-2 lead. Southern Miss came close to the Lady Demons throughout the set but was not able gain the lead again.

The second set saw few lead changes in the beginning until a kill by Kelly Jimenez at the 13-12 mark put NSU up by one. The Lady Demons kept their lead for the remainder of the set.

In the third set, Northwestern State led from the start and managed to hold on to it through the 17-16 mark. NSU went down for two plays and then came back to lead at 19-18. Neely ended hammered down four kills in a row to end the set. 
 
“I thought we served really well, I was very happy with our service game,” said Hernesman. “I thought that our hitters made some really good adjustments in out of system stuff for us.”

The Lady Demons take on tournament host Texas-Arlington and the Red Foxes of Marist on Saturday afternoon.