Box Score CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Southland Conference tournament All-Tournament team members Ashley Elrod and Keelie Arneson led the Northwestern State volleyball team in a heart-breaking 3-2 (25-19, 25-20, 13-25, 14-25, 12-15) loss to Central Arkansas in the tournament championship match, Sunday afternoon at the Dugan Wellness Center.
 
Despite the loss, the Lady Demons have posted the best record in program history, collecting a 21-12 overall mark. The Sugar Bears (29-3) claimed the regular season championship after posting a perfect record in league play. They notch their second conference tournament championship and NCAA tournament appearance in a row, and extend their win-streak to 22.
 
"First of all, congratulations to Central Arkansas. They do things the right way and are worthy champions," said fourth year co-head coach Hugh Hernesman. "There hasn't been a stronger team in this conference in our time here, and I think a strong case can be made that this is the best team the Southland has seen in its history."
 
"That being said, this is a difficult and bittersweet moment for us. While we would like to recognize, once again, the best season in program history, the bottom line is that we came up short of our goal for the season," said Hernesman "We were close, and I believe we gave UCA everything they could handle today, but we just weren't able to sustain that success and momentum we were able to generate in the first two sets. We put ourselves in position to win the match in the fifth, but as always in great matches, it comes down to one or two plays. Unfortunately, we came up just a bit short."
 
The game began in-favor of Northwestern State as it took a 2-0 lead heading into the break. The Lady Demons jumped out to a 9-3 lead in set one and held the Sugar Bears at an arm's length throughout the remainder of the set. UCA picked up a six-point run in the middle of the game, but NSU used its own four-point string to claim the win, 25-19.
 
In set two, the score tied at five, six and seven-all before the Lady Demons knocked down four in a row for a 10-7 lead. UCA came within one, but a three-point run gave NSU the edge and the lead for the rest of the set. Both teams chipped away at the board, but the 25-20 final was in favor of NSU.
 
Both squads came out firing in game three, tying the game at every point up until five apiece, when the Sugar Bears claimed three in a row for an 8-5 lead. UCA put up 10-point leads at two different times through the remainder of the set, and a three-point run to get its first win of the day, 25-13.
 
UCA jumped out to a 9-3 lead in set four and did not look back. Five runs throughout the game allowed the Sugar Bears to build a 10-point lead once again, and take a 25-14 victory and force a fifth set.
 
NSU started hot in game five, knocking down three in a row before UCA did the same. The game tied at every point up until eight-all. UCA knocked down two in a row to take a 10-8 lead before the game went back and forth in scoring. The Lady Demons took a timeout at 12-9 and came within one at 12-11, but the Sugar Bears powered through and claimed the overall victory at 15-12.
 
Elrod and Stacey DiFrancesco registered double-doubles on the day, knocking down 12 and 10 kills, respectively. Elrod dug up 11 UCA attacks while DiFrancesco notched 17. The duo also slapped two service aces each.
 
Setters Emily Johnson and Natalie Jaeger dished out 21 and 20 assists, respectively. Jaeger knocked down three service aces to lead the team, contributing the team's eight overall.
 
Libero Keelie Arneson recorded her third 34-dig performance of the season en-route to her All-Tournament nomination.
 
"We're very proud of this group and this season and as time passes, I believe we'll be able to appreciate this historic season a little bit more than we can at the moment," said Hernesman. "This will fuel us as we head into the offseason and into the 2014 season."
 
The Lady Demons will lose one senior, Jessica Guttierrez, who was a member of the Hernesman's first official recruiting class.