AUBURN, Ala. – Northwestern State closed out the War Eagle Classic with a 3-2 loss (25-19, 24-26, 25-17, 23-25, 12-15) to Auburn, concluding non-conference play with a 3-10 record after four tournaments and one midweek match.
"Obviously a little disappointing not to pull out that last set but couldn't be prouder of this group the way we pulled together," fifth-year head coach
Hugh Hernesman said. "It's been a challenging and emotional weekend for us and we didn't play to our standard until the Auburn match. We certainly look forward to getting into conference play without such a rigorous travel schedule."
The two programs opened set one deadlocked with an
Ashley Elrod kill knotting the match at 6-6. Later, a
Mackenzie Neely kill alongside Auburn attack errors put NSU ahead 15-11. An
Amanda Kunz kill shortly later brought the NSU lead to 17-12. Auburn (8-5) made a run of its own bringing their deficit to two at 18-16 forcing a NSU timeout. The Lady Demons continued pressing, ending the set on a
Stacey DiFrancesco kill giving NSU the 25-19 win.
Auburn rebounded in set two but it would not be easy. NSU jumped out to a 6-2 lead early on a DiFrancesco kill. The Lady Demons maintained its lead at three thanks to an
Ashley Elrod kill at 9-6 but the Tigers made their run. Four straight Auburn points gave the Tigers a 10-9 lead and the two squads began to battle it out.
A
Vanessa Coleman kill tied the match at 15 before Auburn rattled off five straight points to take a 20-15 lead. Four consecutive NSU points helped by an Elrod and Kunz kill brought the deficit to within one at 20-19 and a Neely kill tied the match at 21 but the lead proved to be enough with the Tigers taking the set 26-24.
NSU answered with a pivotal 25-17 win in set three. The two squads battled it out early before NSU built a 13-8 lead behind an Elrod kill and Auburn attack error. NSU maintained its lead at 15-11 thanks to a DiFrancesco kill. Another Neely kill pushed the NSU lead to five at 20-15 forcing an Auburn timeout. The Lady Demons closed out the match behind four straight points helped by another Elrod kill. NSU took the set 25-17 and led the match 2-1.
As only seemed appropriate, Auburn claimed set four, 25-23 taking the match to a winner-take-all set five. The two squads battled back and forth including 14 ties as late as 17-17. Three straight Auburn points gave the Tigers a 20-17 lead before the eventual 25-23 win.
The highly contested match continued into a fifth set as NSU held a 4-2 lead early behind an
Emily Johnson kill. Shortly later, a DiFrancesco kill maintained the Lady Demon lead at 5-3. Elrod and Neely kills kept the lead at two at 7-5 before an Auburn attack error put the NSU lead at 8-5 entering a media timeout.
Three straight NSU points helped by a Neely kill forced an Auburn timeout with the Lady Demons leading 10-6. Auburn rallied to tie the set at 11 and again at 12 before taking a 13-12 lead on a kill. The Tigers took the next two points to finish the set off 15-12 and take the match 3-2.
Elrod and Neely each contributed 17 kills followed by DiFrancesco with nine. Arneson led the way with 34 digs and DiFrancesco finished with 22.
Glynna Johnson added nine total blocks followed by Kunz with seven.
Emily Johnson tallied 30 assists and
Natalie Jaeger finished with 23.
"We got great pin play tonight and our middles were a significant factor," Hernesman said. "I thought our front court did a great job against a fast tempo offense that came at you with all kind of patterns. To block 16 balls was an impressive accomplishment. That's a very talented, physical Auburn team that just went five (sets) with No. 6 Florida State this past week. It took a lot to get to a focus level to be able to give them the run we did."
Northwestern State returns to action and opens Southland Conference play on Thursday against McNeese State. The two are slated to play at 7 p.m. from Memorial Gym in Lake Charles.?
