NATCHITOCHES – One way to measure Lauren Agan's effectiveness is to watch her opponent's hands.
 
When Agan utilizes her atypical leaping ability, it typically leads to a high hitting percentage.
 
That scenario played out Thursday night in Prather Coliseum as Agan turned in the most efficient match of her career, setting in motion the Lady Demons' 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-20) sweep of Southland Conference foe New Orleans.
 
Agan ripped a match-high 16 kills on just 27 swings, recording a .519 hitting percentage as Northwestern State (11-12, 6-2) won its second straight match and surpassed its conference win total from the 2015 season.
 
"Our middles did a good job scoring early, which held their middles and gave her some open looks," second-year head coach Sean Kiracofe said. "When they adjusted and put up a bigger block, she kept hammering away and found seams in the block. She was hitting high hands and getting good angles."
 
Agan's leaping ability often allows her to handle bigger blocks, and that happened Thursday night.
 
"I was trying to be aggressive on every swing," Agan said. "I was getting good sets from Nat (Jaeger), which helped. I attacked their block. When there's a high block, you don't want to hit down into the block. You want to hit it high and off their hands. That's what I was trying to do tonight."
 
Early success from middle blockers Kourtney Seaton (nine kills) and Madeline Drake (four kills) opened alleys for Agan and Alexis Warren (14 kills). Warren tallied six kills in the first set and added six more in the second.
 
Warren also helped serve the Lady Demons to a pair of comeback wins in the second and third sets, erasing early New Orleans (4-15, 1-5) leads.

After NSU took a timeout trailing 18-16 in the second set, Warren delivered a kill then served a 5-0 run to put the Lady Demons in control of the set.
 
In the decisive third set, a Drake kill tied things at 17 before Warren served four straight points to seize control.
 
"I just thought about calming myself down and the follow through with my hand, knowing if we can get them out of system, it's an easier point for us," Warren said.
 
With Agan and Seaton (.389 hitting percentage) leading the way, NSU tallied a .325 hitting percentage as a team, its second-best performance of the season following only a .339 mark at McNeese in the Southland opener on Sept. 22.
 
While NSU dominated the stat sheet, the visiting Privateers did not go quietly. New Orleans started the second set by scoring seven of the first 10 points and ripped off six straight points to open the third set.
 
The third-set run caught the ire of Northwestern State assistant coach Alicia Roth, who made her feelings known after NSU took a timeout down 6-0.
 
Roth's speech worked as the Lady Demons grabbed six of the next eight points and first drew even at 9 after a UNO error.
 
"She was mad," Agan said.
 
NSU channeled that energy into an improved defensive performance that saw four players tally double-figure digs, led by Jaeger's 14. Megan Lohmiller (13), Channing Burleson (12) and Warren (11) added at least 10 digs with Warren posting her fourth consecutive double-double.
 
"It was a tough three-set win," Kiracofe said. "We did good things, but there were certain times we could not push through and maintain a lead. They went in and out of a 6-2 and gave us some trouble offensively and defensively.
 
"(Warren) did a good job for us, but I'll give a lot of credit to the front row with the block, defense and transitioning some balls out too."
 
Northwestern State returns to action Saturday at 1 p.m. when it hosts Southland Conference foe Southeastern Louisiana in Prather Coliseum. The Lady Demons will host Team Day, inviting high school volleyball teams around the state to the match and hosting a post-match clinic.