Box Score STARKVILLE, Miss. – Sophomore Bailey Martin seized 39 digs, ranking third most in school history during a match but Northwestern State fell to host Mississippi State in five sets, 3-2 (24-26, 25-21, 25-16, 24-26, 13-15) in the Maroon Classic finale.

Martin's feat ranks only behind senior Keelie Arneson who had 42 digs on Nov. 16 of last season against Stephen F. Austin and Tanya Champagne, who holds the NSU record with 58 in 1985.

The two squads opened the back-and-forth set one with neither able to take a significant advantage early. After 11 ties, with the latest at 13-13, NSU (3-6) rallied off five straight points highlighted by kills from Stacey DiFrancesco, Caiti O'Connell and Vanessa Coleman to take an 18-13 lead.

The Bulldogs (4-7) had an answer, stringing together five straight of their own and the set sat tied at 18. Down 20-19, NSU called timeout to regroup heading down the stretch but three straight points later, the Lady Demons found themselves trailing 23-19. An Ashley Elrod kill stopped the bleeding at 23-20 and NSU started to rally. The Lady Demons climbed back to tie the set at 24 but the Bulldogs scored the next two points to take set one 26-24.

The evenly matched opponents struggled to pull away from one another once again in set two. After trailing 9-8, NSU rattled off four straight points including an Emily Johnson service ace to take a 12-9 and force a Bulldogs timeout. Consecutive attack errors pushed the NSU lead to four at 14-10.

Mississippi State but the lead to one at 14-13 but for every Bulldogs advantage, NSU responded. An Ashley Elrod kill, Martin service ace and Mackenzie Neely kill consecutively forced a Mississippi State timeout and put NSU ahead 22-18. The Lady Demons closed out the set with back-to-back kills from Elrod and Neely to claim it 25-21 and knot the match at one.

NSU carried its momentum into set three, taking an early 8-5 lead on a DiFrancesco service ace. Later, a Mackenzie Neely kill pushed the lead to four at 11-7 thanks to a Neely kill in the process forcing a Bulldogs timeout. NSU was in the midst of six consecutive points and the visiting Lady Demons had built an 17-8 lead.

A Madison Walford service ace followed by consecutive Bulldogs attack errors and an O'Connell kill put NSU within reach at 24-16. O'Connell would end the set with another kill at 25-16 giving NSU a 2-1 set advantage.

The Bulldogs came ready to defend their home court, taking a 15-12 advantage into a media timeout. An Elrod kill brought the Mississippi State lead down to 15-14 but three straight Bulldog points put the lead at 18-14. Trailing 24-19, NSU rattled off five straight points highlighted by a DiFrancesco kill to tie the set at 24 but the Bulldogs closed the must-have set out at 26-24.

In a winner-take-all set five, neither squad could take an advantage early. After being tied at eight, the Bulldogs rallied off four straight points to take a 12-8 lead and force a NSU timeout. On match point, NSU brought the lead to within one at 14-13 but a Mississippi State kill ended the set, 15-13 as the Bulldogs took the match 3-2.

Neely led the way with 12 kills followed by Elrod and O'Connell with 11 each. On top of Martin's 39 digs, DiFrancesco added 34 and Elrod finished with 27. Glynna Johnson and DiFrancesco each contributed nine total blocks. Neely finished as the Lady Demons' leading point scorer with 14.5 and Elrod added 13.

Northwestern State will return to action on Tuesday when the squad travels to Waco, Texas to take on the Baylor Bears. The match is slated for 7 o'clock at the Ferrell Center.