Box Score NATCHITOCHES – Freshman Ashley Elrod put up a .386 attack percentage and her fifth double-double of the season to aid in the 3-1 (25-9, 25-20, 21-25, 25-22) victory for the Northwestern State volleyball team over Southland Conference rival Stephen F. Austin Saturday afternoon at Prather Coliseum.

The win marks the sixth in a row for the Lady Demons as they improve to 7-8 overall, 3-0 in the Southland. SFA drops to 10-6 overall, 2-1 SLC.

"We executed very well in our transition and our counter-attack, so when SFA was in a bad situation, for us to take that ball and convert it was the reason for such a big run, but we knew it wasn't going to be that easy," said fourth year co-head coach Hugh Hernesman. "We have a lot of respect for them, and they're a very good team."

The Lady Demons notched a come-from-behind win in the fourth set to maintain their four-game win-streak at home. NSU took a 5-0 lead to force a SFA timeout and went up 12-8 before the Ladyjacks went on an 8-0 run to take a 15-13 lead. The Lady Demons slowly battled back and trailed SFA by four before the Ladyjacks went on a 4-0 run. Elrod tied the game at 22 and knocked down three more kills to take the 25-22 win.

"One of the things that was most impressive for me was that we were able to turn things around so late in the fourth," said Hernesman. "We were down 18-14 and took a timeout so we could refocus on what we needed to do."

NSU got ahead early in the first set, posting a 25-9 domination that included a match-high 10-0 run to put the Lady Demons up 22-6. Northwestern State slowly knocked down three more kills to take set one.

Set two posed eight ties and lead changes, and just one 3-0 run by NSU as both teams found themselves tied at 16. The Lady Demons slowly took the lead and put the Ladyjacks at an arm's length for the 25-20 win heading into the break.

SFA didn't go down without a fight, controlling the entire third set, including two 3-0 runs to take a match-high 9-4 lead en-route to a 25-21 win.

Elrod knocked down 19 kills and 13 digs to lead the Lady Demons on the day, followed by Caiti O'Connell with 12 kills. Setters Emily Johnson and Natalie Jaeger dished out 43 total assists on the day.

"Ashley killed all of the last four points for us - she saw opportunities and she took advantage of them," said Hernesman. "Some freshman sometimes might shy away from those situations and not perform as well, but she made the comment after the Southeastern match that she just goes out and plays the game."

"We had a few times where we were able to go on some big runs because of our serve. Our service did a nice job of keeping the pressure on them instead of bailing them out. Emily did a good job of putting the ball where we wanted it, Mackenzie as well."

Mackenzie Neely recorded six kills, three digs, three blocks and two service aces. Libero Keelie Arneson dug up 21 Ladyjack attacks, trailing Southland digs leader O.J. Olsen's 31 digs on the day. Olsen also recorded two service aces on the day.

The Lady Demons hit the road next week when they travel to Southland Conference tournament defending champion Central Arkansas on Thursday for a seven o'clock start. They will continue on to Tulsa, Okla. to face Oral Roberts on Saturday at 2:00. NSU returns home on Oct. 10 to host McNeese at 7:00 at Prather.