THIBODAUX – The Northwestern State volleyball team overcame a slow start Saturday afternoon, beating Southland Conference opponent Nicholls in four sets 3-1 (25-19, 14-25, 25-15, 25-19).

"Nicholls played really well," third-year head coach Sean Kiracofe said. "Any time we play them, they run their middles like a textbook example of what you want from a quick attack. They were also very scrappy on defense. Add their defense to some good inside-out offense and it's going to be a difficult match."

The Lady Demons (10-12, 5-2 Southland) excelled in serving against a tough Nicholls defense, recording a conference season-high 12 aces to help secure the match. Coming into Saturday, the Lady Demons were ranked 12th nationally in total aces with 122.

"It's just our responsibility to serve well and take good swings so they can't run the middles like they're capable of," Kiracofe said. "We were able to get a lot of aces today, but we also allowed them to be effective in the middle which then opens things up for everyone else."

With four digs in the first set, libero Channing Burleson climbed another spot in the NSU career record book, unseating Megan Manning for fourth all-time. Burleson finished the match with 17 digs, giving the junior 1,169 in her career.

Outside hitter Alexis Warren provided the Lady Demons with a match-high 17.5 points against the Colonels (3-19, 1-8). Warren led the team with a match-high six aces and added 11 kills.

After Nicholls cruised to a second set win to tie the match at 1-1 , the Lady Demons refocused and turned momentum in their favor with a dominant third set.

In the third set, the Lady Demons outhit the Colonels .478 to .172. Warren and outside hitter Reagan Rogers were primary contributors in the set, finishing with five and four kills, respectively.

Warren and defensive specialist Megan Lohmiller also added two aces each in the set.

Warren's 11 kills in the match were second only Rogers' 15. Rogers also dug the ball 11 times, securing her seventh double-double of the year and her second of the week.

In the fourth set, the Lady Demons were locked in a close battle, with a 17-15 lead. Northwestern State went on a 4-0 run with kills from Warren and middle blocker Kourtney Seaton and an ace from Lohmiller.

Middle blocker Madeline Drake, a mainstay of the Lady Demons front line, came up big for Northwestern State on multiple occasions against Nicholls. One of her biggest moments was a combo block with Rogers to get the Lady Demons to match point (24-17) in the fourth set.

Three plays later, Rogers hammered down the winning kill to give the Lady Demons a four-match win streak.

"This was a great team win," Kiracofe said. "It wasn't our best overall match and no one really stepped up to take over for us until Lex (Warren) got on a roll. But it's good to get a win in a match where everyone has to find a way to help, even if that is in a different way than normal."

The Lady Demons return to Prather Coliseum for a Tuesday night matchup with Houston Baptist before heading on the road for a weekend trip to New Orleans (Thursday) and Southeastern Louisiana (Saturday).