NATCHITOCHES – Playing in front of its home crowd for the first time this season, Northwestern State staved off an Abilene Christian rally and claimed a 3-2 win (25-19, 29-27, 16-25, 23-25, 15-12) at Prather Coliseum on Thursday night.

After NSU (5-11, 2-1 SLC) jumped out to a 2-0 lead, the Wildcats (2-14, 0-3 SLC) came back, taking set three and four to force a deciding fifth set. In the finale, however, NSU utilized an early 10-6 lead to close the set 15-12.

"Today was a gut check," fifth-year co-head coach Hugh Hernesman said. "I thought ACU played really well and I was real impressed with how they responded after the first two sets. For us, it felt good just to be back in our gym. I think there is a comfort zone. We always play well at home. It wasn't the way we wanted it to be but this game isn't perfect and it happens from time to time.

"I thought to be able to come back after we split those first two to be able to come back with the momentum clearly in ACU's favor for us to start out quick was probably the key to the match."

NSU secured a big performance from preseason all-Southland Conference honoree Caiti O'Connell who led the way with 18 kills and a .410 attack percentage.

"Caiti is so talented," Hernesman said. "Caiti is off to a little bit of a tough start by her standards and she kind of got lost in the numbers game in all the competition we had. We were in a spot where we had a couple people hurt and we had to use her in a different role. She had a great week of practice. She was a big difference in the match with her play on the left side and being able to get kills out there."

Sophomore Bailey Martin was also a key contributor adding 28 digs at libero in place of senior Keelie Arneson who went out for the year last Friday with a Achilles injury.

"I think that first match at Nicholls after Keelie went down was a real difficult one for Bailey," Hernesman said. "She really looks up to Keelie and I think that was hard for her to take that spot during a pretty emotional day. This was the Bailey we know today. We were able to use her in middle back; we were able to use her in left back. We picked up a lot of big digs towards the end. She had a really big match and I'm sure Keelie would be proud of her."

Freshman Madison Walford got into the action adding 36 assists and in the process provided a big boost to an offense needing a lift midway through the match.

"Wally is coming along," Hernesman said. "She started out kind of tentative but I think that's natural for a young player on a team full of upperclassmen with roles. For her to come in and step in to a leadership spot for a setter; she's earning our teams trust and I think she really played well tonight. She got our offense going at a pretty good clip."

Senior Mackenzie Neely finished tied with O'Connell at 18 kills while senior Stacey DiFrancesco contributed 14 of her own.

NSU concludes its brief two-match home stand against Incarnate Word at Prather Coliseum on Saturday. The match will begin at 2:00 p.m. and admission is free to all fans.

"What we really need to do is ride the momentum from the night and learn from some of the ups and downs," Hernesman said. "One of the things we talked about in the locker room afterwards was not riding the emotional roller coaster and playing a little steadier. That'll be the focus on Saturday and hopefully things will work out well there."