NATCHITOCHES – Falling down a set to start a match is not the pattern Sean Kiracofe wants to see his Northwestern State volleyball team fall into.
 
Seeing them recover nicely, however, has given the second-year head coach reason to smile.
 
For the second straight night, the Lady Demons fell behind an in-state opponent by a set before rallying for a victory. This time, NSU did so in front of the home crowd for the first time this season, knocking off UL Monroe 3-1 (17-25, 25-20, 25-17, 25-10) on "1K Day."
 
"It's not the start we wanted, but I'm going to chalk it up to another first, being our first home match," Kiracofe said. "There was a good crowd, a lot of energy. We appreciate everyone coming out, but maybe we had some nerves and pushed too hard to impress them. They settled down and got better every set after that."
 
Much like it did against UL Lafayette on Tuesday, Northwestern State (2-3) was beset by errors and a tough serving opponent in the opening set. And much like it did 24 hours earlier, NSU recovered nicely behind efficient offense from senior outside hitter Lauren Agan and volume scoring from freshman outside hitter Alexis Warren.
 
Warren led the Lady Demons with 18 kills while Agan posted her second straight 17-kill performance, hitting a robust .333 on 39 total attempts.
 
"Starting my senior year, I want to be a smarter player this year, a more consistent player," Agan said. "I want to be able to get the big kills, but I want to keep my errors low, and I've done that the last few games."
 
Agan was masterful in the second set, collecting five kills in 12 total attempts as NSU evened the match at one set apiece.
 
While NSU improved its hitting percentage each set, it served as efficiently as it has all season, collecting nine aces against five service errors. Bailey Martin, Natalie Jaeger and Megan Lohmiller each had a pair of aces to pace the Demons from the service line.
 
Martin's two aces came in her first action of the season.
 
"Bailey stepped in, didin't miss a beat," Kiracofe said. "She also played really good defense and served really tough. She put them in positions to make errors where we got easy points."
 
After evening the match, NSU used a pair of big service runs in the final two sets to grab its second win in as many days.
 
Channing Burleson provided an 8-0 run in the third set that pushed NSU to an 11-point lead while Jaeger presided over a 7-0 fourth-set run.
 
"Serving is something we emphasize," said Jaeger, who ranked sixth nationally a season ago in aces per set. "We believe in having strong servers and a variety of servers. We practice it a lot, and to see it pay off in matches, is great."
 
While NSU's offense improved throughout the match, its defense stood strong throughout. NSU tallied a season-best 81 digs in its first four-set match of the season.
 
Four Lady Demons reached double figures, led by 18 apiece from Warren and Burleson. Lohmiller added a career-best 16 while Jaeger chipped in 15 to go with her 41 assists, her fourth straight double-double.
 
"We have our responsibilities on the court and whoever takes (a dig), takes it," Lohmiller said. "We have a philosophy that no ball hits the ground, only our bodies hit the ground."
 
The Lady Demons return to action Friday morning at the UAB/Samford Invitational in Birmingham, Alabama. NSU begins tournament play at 10 a.m. Friday against Southeast Missouri State. NSU will face Samford at 7 p.m. Friday and plays two matches (at UAB, 10 a.m.; vs. Tennessee Tech, 2:30 p.m.) on Saturday.