FORT WORTH, Texas – The Northwestern State volleyball team answered an early wake-up call against Boise State at the TCU Invitational on Saturday.
 
Unfortunately for the Lady Demons, the momentum they built in a second-set comeback disappeared in the third set of a 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-11) sweep at the hands of Boise State.
 
Northwestern State (0-3) appeared to be headed for its best offensive performance of the season-opening tournament, killing four of its first 10 attacks of the match with the Broncos (1-0). However, Boise State used a 6-1 run to turn a two-point deficit into a three-point lead at 14-11 and was able to keep the Lady Demons at bay for the remainder of the set.
 
The Broncos kept the momentum early in the second set, building leads of 7-1 and 15-6 before Northwestern State awakened.
 
Led by two kills each from Alexis Warren and Victoria Harris and a pair of blocks by Kourtney Seaton and Abby Gardea, the Lady Demons charged back, cutting the lead to 23-21 before a pair of attack errors allowed Boise State to hang on for the second-set victory.
 
"The second set today was the best volleyball we've played so far," second-year head coach Sean Kiracofe said. "That just unfortunately came after giving Boise State a big lead to start the set. I was very happy with the matchups we were able to create, the way we were able to take advantage of them and the consistency we played with for two-thirds of the second set."
 
In the third set, NSU was unable to answer another quick Boise State start.
 
The Broncos scored six of the first seven points of the set, putting in motion the clinching victory.
 
Warren led Northwestern State's offense with seven kills while setter Natalie Jaeger had her second straight double-double (16 assists, 12 digs). Channing Burleson paced the back-line defense with 15 digs while Gardea had four total blocks.
 
Sierra Nobley's 11 kills were a match high for Boise State.
 
Northwestern State returns to action Tuesday night when they travel to UL Lafayette for a 6:30 match. The matchup starts a run of six matches in five days for the Lady Demons, including the Aug. 31 home opener against UL Monroe on "1K Day" at Prather Coliseum.