NEW ORLEANS – There was a bit of déjà vu swirling around the Northwestern State volleyball team Tuesday night.
 
The Lady Demons rolled to an easy first-set win against New Orleans and appeared to be on their way to snap a four-match losing streak rather easily.
 
The homestanding Privateers made things interesting, taking the second set and nearly rallying from a large third-set deficit before Northwestern State recovered for a 3-1 (25-13, 19-25, 29-27, 25-19) Southland Conference victory.
 
"For that to happen so soon after having a couple of matches where it happened to us, it was going through their heads," second-year coach Sean Kiracofe said of watching the UNO rally, which erased a nine-point Lady Demons advantage in the third set.
 
"Something we've talked about in the last couple of weeks is thinking about what you're telling yourself internally. They let some doubt creep in but were able to push it out and win a tough set and put us in position to close out the match."
 
Northwestern State (12-16, 7-6) won for the first time since an Oct. 13 sweep of New Orleans (4-22, 1-12) and moved closer to securing a spot in the conference tournament, which takes place in Conway, Arkansas, from Nov. 18-20.
 
NSU sits in fifth place among tournament-eligible teams, a game ahead of Central Arkansas and a game-and-a-half ahead of McNeese and Lamar, which are tied for the seventh and eighth spots.
 
Reagan Rogers had one of the biggest swings of the match, putting down the clinching kill in the long third set, but the consistency of middle blocker Madeline Drake and outside hitter Lauren Agan helped Northwestern State hit .284 for the match.
 
Drake delivered a career-high 15 kills while hitting .478. Agan, who hit a career-best .519 in the earlier matchup with the Privateers, knocked down 14 kills on 28 attacks, hitting .357.
 
In the two matches with UNO, Agan delivered 30 kills while hitting .436.
 
"She was hitting high hands," Kiracofe said. "She was able to get into the seam of the block. She had a better matchup than our other outside, which was (Alexis Warren) to start and Reagan after that. (Agan) matches up well against that middle. She's able to find the seam when she's in there."
 
In the first matchup, Drake and Kourtney Seaton combined for 13 kills in the middle. Drake surprassed that number by herself Tuesday, enjoying the best offensive match of her career.
 
"The first time we played them, we felt like in transition, if we controlled the ball, our middles could score," Kiracofe said. "Drake did a good job. She went right back to work like she did in the first match. She saw the splits and the opportunities, and she put the ball away."
 
After hitting a robust .500 in the first set, NSU dipped to an .077 hitting percentage as UNO took control midway through the second set and tied the match at 1.
 
Unlike some of its more recent matches, the Lady Demons recovered well and built an 18-9 lead in the third set before the Privateers rallied to even the match at 23.
 
Each team had two chances to win in extra points before Northwestern State used a pair of Rogers kills sandwiched around a Privateers attack error to end the set.
 
Rogers and Victoria Harris each had five kills off the bench and Rogers delivered two of NSU's nine aces in the victory.
 
"Reagan came in and did a great job right away," Kiracofe said. "Vic, because of numbers, has been on the right side for us in practice and getting better every single day. We saw some matchups where we could score on the right, and she did a great job for us."
 
Northwestern State returns to action Saturday when it hosts Central Arkansas at 1 p.m. in the opener of a season-ending, three-match homestand.