Box Score LAKE CHARLES – Northwestern State used another strong defensive effort from libero Keelie Arneson and solid offensive output from Mackenzie Neely to win a back-and-forth 3-2 match over McNeese to open up Southland Conference play (21-25, 25-23, 23-25, 25-22, 15-11) at Memorial Gym on Thursday evening.

"I'm proud of how we fought through some struggles for us," fifth-year head coach Hugh Hernesman said. "We weren't on for most of the night but I think all that credit has to go to McNeese; they played very well. They're a difficult team because they're big, strong, physical and very aggressive offensively. It took us a bit to adjust but once we had them figured out we did better. If we get on point scoring runs we can really put the hammer down on some teams. We did that in the fifth set and that was probably the difference."

After a Glynna Johnson block got the match started out for NSU (4-10, 1-0 SLC), McNeese State (9-6, 0-1 SLC) rallied in a hurry, going on a seven-point run before another Johnson block broke up the streak. Northwestern State rallied with a run of its own cutting the lead to 10-8 on four consecutive points including consecutive Stacey DiFrancesco kills. McNeese tallied three straight of their own again but the Lady Demons got things rolling. Four straight NSU points highlighted by an Amanda Kunz kill and Ashley Elrod kill brought the Cowgirls lead to one at 14-13.

The two squads continued battling it out with McNeese seeming to find a way to continue its lead even at the slimmest of margins. The Lady Demons brought the match to within one at 22-21 on a Mackenzie Neely kill but the Cowgirls took the final three points to claim set one, 25-21.

Set two offered no shortage of excitement with NSU rallying back to take its first lead since 1-0 in set one, at 17-16 on a Glynna Johnson kill. The Lady Demons kept pushing with another Johnson kill and some spectacular defensive play helping push the lead to 20-16. A Mackenzie Neely kill maintained the lead at 21-17 but the Cowgirls battled back bringing the set to within one at 22-21 forcing a NSU timeout. The lead was again one at 23-22 and 24-23 but a powerful DiFrancesco kill ended it 25-23, giving NSU its first set victory of Southland Conference play and knotting the match at 1-1.

After starting slow early in set three, a perfectly placed drop shot from DiFrancesco followed by a huge block up front from Caiti O'Connell brought the set to within one at 6-5. The Cowgirls continued their push before an Elrod kill broke up the momentum at 11-7. Shortly later, a Neely kill and perfectly placed Elrod kill brought the lead to within three at 12-9.

Two more kills from Neely and Johnson helped NSU exert its dominance up front but McNeese maintained a 16-11 lead and forced a Lady Demon timeout. Later, a DiFrancesco kill that deflected off two McBNeese blockers followed by two stellar Arneson digs to set up another DiFrancesco kill brought the McNeese lead down to 17-14.

Elrod and Neely kills later followed by excellent play up front from Johnson and McNeese miscues brought the lead down to two at 21-19. The next play, a DiFrancesco kill put the deficit at one, 21-20. McNeese responded with three straight points to hold a 23-20 edge forcing a NSU timeout. Needing some help late, Arneson kept the Lady Demons alive with an incredible dig followed by a DiFrancesco kill but the Cowgirls took the set 25-23 and a 2-1 lead.

McNeese did not make any comeback bid easy early jumping out to a lead. The Lady Demons came back to tie the set at eight and again at nine all thanks to a Cowgirl service error. DiFrancesco came through once again with consecutive kills to give NSU the 12-10. Three straight Cowgirl points were broken up by a Neely kill and the set was tied at 13.

An Amanda Kunz kill gave NSU the lead again at 15-14 and a Cowgirl error extended the lead to two. McNeese went on a four-point run to recapture the lead at 18-16 and force a NSU timeout. Following the timeout, a DiFrancesco kill and McNeese attack error knotted the game at 18.

NSU took a two point lead at 21-19 after some outstanding defensive play and looked the close the set out. The lead as large as 22-19 before McNeese chipped away and trailed just one on a NSU attack error. A perfectly placed Kunz kill and McNeese error brought the lead to 24-21 before NSU closed it out 25-22 and the match headed to a winner take all set five.

Neely raced out to a 5-0 lead in set five with three perfectly placed kills followed by a McNeese attack error and Johnson kill. Shortly later, a Glynna Johnson kill forced a Cowgirl timeout with NSU up 6-0. McNeese eventually got on the board but a Neely kill put the lead at 7-2. A huge Glynna Johnson block and later kill gave NSU a 9-4 lead. The lead was within four at 10-6 but Natalie Jaeger got into the action with a kill to push the lead to five at 11-6.

Another Elrod kill and McNeese attack error gave NSU at 13-8 lead but two straight Cowgirl points made things interesting at 13-10. A service error gave NSU a 14-10 lead. An incredible back and forth play ended on a Johnson kill to give NSU the set 15-11 and the match 3-2.

"We needed a win; it's been a while," Hernesman said. "We'll take it in five, we'll take in three, we'll take it by forfeit. It has been our identity to play real tough competition during preseason to see what's working and find a way to build up to where we need to be. We're still not where we need to be but I feel like that clean slate really helped with the team. The only record we look at is our conference record."

Neely led the way with 17.5 points and 16 kills. Emily Johnson contributed 27 assists followed by Jaeger with 22. Arneson added an impressive 39 digs followed by DiFrancesco with 23. Johnson finished with six blocks.

"(Neely) struggled in the first set but she went sets two through five without an error and 13 or 14 kills," Hernesman said. "It was a ridiculous performance from her. She's been doing that all preseason so I'm not surprised even as impressive as that was. I challenged Glynna Johnson after the third set and told her I needed a little bit more out of her. She played well in the fourth but going into the fifth, I told her 'it's going to be you' and she had five kills in that fifth set. She can be a difference maker when her motor is going.

"We played in four five set matches prior to this one and we lost all four of those until this," Hernesman said. "I think that experience of being in those and playing in the moment, playing each point with 100 percent focus it really showed here."

Northwestern State will play the final match of its one month long road trip on Saturday when the squad heads to Nicholls. The Lady Demons will take on the Colonels at 2 o'clock from Stopher Gym in Thibodaux before returning home for the first home match of the year next Thursday, Oct. 2 against Abilene Christian at 7 o'clock.