NATCHITOCHES – The Northwestern State volleyball team put Stephen F. Austin to the test on Senior Night from Prather Coliseum but ultimately fell to the Ladyjacks, 3-1 (24-26, 22-25, 25-22, 23-25) to conclude the regular season home slate on Friday.

"They're good," fifth-year co-head coach Hugh Hernesman said. "I thought the difference between the match tonight and when we played there was we passed it a lot better. It was a battle and we expected it to be a battle. We played at a level that we need to be playing heading into the conference tournament in two weeks."

As only seemed fitting, the Lady Demons' (11-16, 8-6 Southland Conference) top three point scorers were seniors Mackenzie Neely (17), Stacey DiFrancesco (15.5) and Vanessa Coleman (11.5). DiFrancesco finished with 14 kills followed by Neely's 13 while fellow senior Emily Johnson tallied 28 assists.

"I couldn't be prouder of how they showed up today," Hernesman said. "We were concerned about the emotion of it all. It's an emotional night and it should be because we are family. For them playing well in such an important match, you just didn't know what you were going to get. This is a group that's got a ton of character and they're very competitive."

Defensively, sophomore libero Bailey Martin dug 16 balls while Coleman and Neely finished with six total blocks and four total blocks respectively. Junior Glynna Johnson led the way with a .364 hitting percentage behind her nine kills and just one attack error.

With the win, SFA (21-7, 14-0 SLC) clinched the Southland Conference regular season title doing so behind 19 kills from Justice Walker and 27 digs from OJ Olson. NSU limited the Ladyjacks to a .210 hitting percentage but hit just .187 on the night.

Next up, NSU will ready for a two-match road swing with the first stop taking place on Thursday at 7 o'clock against Incarnate Word from McDermott Center. The Lady Demons finish the regular season at Abilene Christian on Saturday at 2 o'clock.

"Any time you play, you've got to find something you're working on for the next match and the future," Hernesman said. "SFA did a good job stressing us in different areas and we'll work to have answers for that if we have to run into them again or if we see it Thursday night against Incarnate Word. We just move on but maintaining the level of play is always the focus this late in the season."