Box Score STARKVILLE, Miss. – Northwestern State dropped its opening match of the Maroon Classic to South Alabama 3-1 (22-25, 25-23, 15-25, 15-25) on Friday afternoon, in the process, dropping to 3-4 on the season.

Northwestern State continues play at the Maroon Classic tomorrow with two matches slated for the final day of play. NSU will take on Memphis at 1 p.m. and host Mississippi State at 7 o'clock in the finale. Fans can watch the Lady Demons and Bulldogs live on ESPN3.com. 

NSU jumped out to a quick start in set one taking four straight points with Ashley Elrod at the service line but South Alabama (4-4) did not go away, rallying back to tie things at eight. An Elrod kill tied the set at 19, however, the Jaguars never trailed again. A Mackenzie Neely kill brought the Jaguars lead to 24-22 before South Alabama took set one 25-22.

The second set offered another challenge early for NSU. A Natalie Jaeger service ace knotted the tightly contested match at 10. NSU held a one or two point lead over the next combined 20 points. Neely's kill put NSU up 18-16 but the squad's sat tied at 20 heading down the stretch.

A pivotal Stacey DiFrancesco kill and attack error by South Alabama put NSU ahead 23-21. Vanessa Coleman followed the action up with a kill and Jaguar attack error ending the set at 25-23, this time in favor of Northwestern State.

Tied at one set each, South Alabama made a statement to open set three. The Jaguars put forth four straight points and doubled NSU's lead at 10-5. The lead remained at five with a Glynna Johnson kill at 11-6 but shortly later, NSU called timeout trailing 13-6.

South Alabama kept the pressure on opening an eight point lead at 18-10. Kills late from Aubrey Davis, DiFrancesco and Agan offered the only positives the rest of the way as the Jaguars took set three, 25-15, and a 2-1 set lead.

The South Alabama momentum continued in a must-win set four for NSU. The Jaguars tallied six consecutive points early and through 10 points maintained an 8-2 lead. NSU answered with three points of its own including a kill from DiFrancesco but trailed 10-5.

Back-to back DiFrancesco kills and consecutive Jaguar attack errors helped NSU bring down to two at 12-10. Kills from Agan and DiFrancesco held the Jaguar lead at 17-14 with NSU looking to make a push. Consecutive points from South Alabama pushed its leads to five at 19-14 at the Lady Demons used a timeout.

A Caiti O'Connell kill put the lead at 20-15 but South Alabama closed out the set on a run of five straight points, taking the set 25-15 and match 3-1.

DiFrancesco led the way with seven kills followed by Elrod, Neely and Agan with six each. Jaeger, Emily Johnson and Madison Walford offered up double-digit assists with 13, 12 and 10 respectively. Bailey Martin, playing in place of injured Keelie Arneson, finished with 25 digs followed by DiFrancesco with 20. Glynna Johnson picked up five of NSU's nine total blocks.