NATCHITOCHES – The Northwestern State volleyball team suffered a setback in Southland Conference play Saturday, falling at home to Abilene Christian 3-1 (15-25, 25-16, 25-22, 25-22).

The Lady Demons (13-14, 8-4) came into the match riding a three-match win streak, including an upset of then-undefeated in conference Sam Houston State on Thursday.

"With what we did against Sam Houston and Corpus Christi, and being able to push Houston Baptist, we're now putting ourselves in a territory that this young team hasn't necessarily been in before," third-year head coach Sean Kiracofe said. "There's going to be some ups and downs. They've just never been in this type of situation before.

"We've proven that we can go against the top teams in the conference and get wins and control some situations, but then you need to turn around and make sure you step up and beat the teams that are a little lower in the standings. It's just something that is a learning process."

NSU picked up where it left off following the big win on Thursday, rapidly building a 13-4 lead in the opening set. The Lady Demons hit .370 while holding Abilene Christian (9-14, 5-6) to -.031 hitting with four blocks.

Outside hitter Reagan Rogers led the Lady Demons in the first set with three aces and a pair of kills. Fellow outside hitter Alexis Warren added three kills while three others (Kourtney Seaton, Madeline Drake, Hannah Brister) contributed a pair of kills each.

Rogers' 11 kills in the match tied the Wildcats' Jacey Smith for the match-high.

Abilene eliminated all NSU momentum in the second set with a strong defensive performance. ACU held the Lady Demons to -.088 hitting while blocking three shots.

With the second set tied at 6, the Wildcats built an insurmountable lead thanks to a 15-0 run, making it 21-6, ACU. Many of the points the Lady Demons gave up in the run were self-inflected, with 10 points coming from non-blocked attacks or ball handling errors.

The Lady Demons challenged ACU for the rest of the match, dropping both of the final two sets 25-22. NSU had chances to take each of the sets, tying the third at 21-all and the fourth at 22-all, however, late pushes from Abilene sank NSU's chances of a comeback.

"The first set was great," Kiracofe said. "I think we're capable of having a match where everything looks like the first set, but you go out there and get a little complacent with some situations, or you let it just be easier on the other side and they're absolutely physically capable of doing what they did for the rest of the match."

Drake, NSU's junior middle blocker, had a match to remember, producing nine kills on just 15 attacks with no errors. She also turned in a dominant showing defensively, recording seven total blocks – one short of her season high. In two matches this week, Drake contributed 25 kills and nine total blocks.

The Lady Demons have a quick turnaround with a home Southland match against second-place Central Arkansas on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. The Lady Demons and Sugar Bears met earlier in the conference schedule, with UCA sweeping the match at home.

"There's no breaks," Kiracofe said. "The top half of the conference this year is really good. There's not going to be any easy matchups going into the tournament, so it doesn't make for many easy matches in conference."