LAKE CHARLES – The Northwestern State volleyball team had every chance to fold Thursday night.

Instead, the Lady Demons dug deep and produced their best rally of the season.

Northwestern State rallied from a two-set deficit, surviving extra points to complete a five-set, comeback victory against McNeese, 3-2 (20-25, 22-25, 25-19, 25-16, 20-18).

Outside hitter Reagan Rogers had a career night with a match-high 23 kills. She also added two aces, bringing her team-high ace total to 26 for the year.

Securing the Lady Demons' (9-12, 4-2 Southland) 20-18 final set win was middle blocker Madeline Drake and outside hitter Hannah Brister. The two sealed the comeback win with a clutch combined block off a McNeese (12-10, 4-4) attack.

The Lady Demons were in position to win in each of the opening sets, but late surges by McNeese put NSU in a 2-0 hole.

"McNeese has a different offense than most teams," third-year head coach Sean Kiracofe said. "We talked before the match that things maybe frustrating to start out, but we need to learn as the match went along on how we can defend against them and then score.

"That's exactly what we did. It wasn't a smooth process by any means but it finally came together in the third which is better than waiting until we're on the bus going home."

With the first set tied at 19, McNeese took control by forcing three NSU attack errors (two blocks) and recording three timely kills to clinch the opening set.

In the second set, the Lady Demons were in a similar situation, down 23-22 late in the set. Following a McNeese timeout, NSU gave up a point with a service error and McNeese's Keegan Nelms put down a kill to take the 2-0 lead.

Brister played a vital role in the first two sets, keeping the Lady Demons' offense alive early with 12 kills and a .688 hitting percentage in the first two sets.

"We have played a couple matches now where we can get Hannah in a position to score, and she has done a fantastic job taking on that responsibility," Kiracofe said.

Midway through the third set, the Lady Demons held a slight 15-12 lead. NSU held off the Cowgirls as the set peaked and clinched the set 25-19. Brister, Rogers and outside hitter Alexis Warren combined for 13 kills in the third set to kickstart the comeback.

Tied at 12 in the fourth set, the Lady Demons locked in and went on a 13-4 run to tie the match and force a fifth set. Warren went on a run of her own during the rally, picking up three straight kills to add distance to the lead.

"Reagan (Rogers) has been a go-to attacker for us all year, so it's no surprise when teams focus their defense towards her," Kiracofe said. "She made some unforced errors early to help McNeese out but really came on strong later in the match.

"She (Rogers) had 7 or 8 kills in one set alone against a defense that knew she was getting the ball, which is a really big deal. It says a lot about the season she's been having to start out slow but turn it into a great offensive night."

Despite not making a large impact on the stat sheet, senior Kylie Spencer was key to the win and impressed Kiracofe in the serve receive game.

"Kylie Spencer came in and really settled things down for us in serve receive," Kiracofe said. "That's not something that is going to show up in the box score, but it was a big part of the come back."

The Lady Demons will return to the road Saturday with sights set on a fourth straight conference win, facing Nicholls at 12 p.m.