LUBBOCK, Texas  -- In the first two sets Saturday, Northwestern State showed plenty of fight, rallying twice against Texas Tech.
 
Those rallies came up short before the Red Raiders cruised to a third-set victory in a 3-0 sweep of Northwestern State on the final day of the Lone Star Showdown.
 
"We did some good things and had some rotations that we were able to get a run of points in," first-year head coach Sean Kiracofe said. "We just ended up getting stuck in the few rotations that we had trouble with, which made it too difficult to come back from."
 
In the opening set, the teams were tied at 12 before Texas Tech created some separation and took a 23-17 lead.
 
NSU (2-11) then rattled off four straight points to cut the lead to 23-21. Texas Tech answered with kills by Brianna Grant and Victoria Hinneburg to clinch the first set 25-21.
 
A similar script played out in the second set. After the teams split the first 12 points of the second set, Texas Tech (11-3) used a 4-0 run to take the lead for good.
 
The Red Raiders grew the lead to eight (22-14) before Northwestern State responded.
 
A Channing Burleson kill, a Bailey Martin ace and a trio of Texas Tech attack errors helped NSU slice the lead to 22-19. After the teams traded points, Sarah Redding delivered consecutive kills to give Texas Tech the 25-20 second-set victory.
 
Amanda Kunz started the third set with a kill that gave NSU a 1-0 lead. From there, Texas Tech ran off four straight points and seven of the next 10 to take a 7-4 lead.
 
After that, the Red Raiders methodically grew their lead, ultimately closing out the match with a 25-15 victory in the third set.
 
Glynna Johnson led NSU with seven kills while Channing Burleson and Caiti O'Connell each added six. Kunz had five kills and a block assist to complete a weekend in which she was named to the all-tournament team.
 
Kunz finished the three tournament matches with 20 kills and 11 blocks en route to earning her first all-tournament honors of the season.
 
"Amanda had a great all-around tournament for us in a number of different ways offensively and defensively," Kiracofe said. "She and Glynna (Johnson) both stood out against all three opponents, and I cannot wait to see them compete in our conference opener next weekend."
 
After nine straight matches away from Natchitoches, Northwestern State returns home on Thursday to open Southland Conference play against McNeese State. That begins a three-match homestand, and NSU will play six of its next eight matches – all Southland Conference matchups – at Prather Coliseum.