TROY, Alabama – With a sweep of Jackson State (25-23, 25-21, 25-11) on Saturday afternoon at the Troy Invitational, the Northwestern State volleyball team secured its first winning record in a tournament since 2014.
With their strong individual performances, outside hitters Reagan Rogers and Alexis Warren were named to the all-tournament team for the Lady Demons (3-4).
Warren knocked down 21 kills in the opening match against Winthrop and had 29 over the full tournament while hitting .163.
Rogers was a leader for the Lady Demons offensively throughout the tournament, recording 38 kills while hitting .255.
With the win Saturday, third-year head coach Sean Kiracofe secured his first outright winning record in a regular season tournament as a head coach and the first for NSU since 2014, the year of the Lady Demons' most recent Southland Conference tournament championship.
"I was really happy with the week as a whole," Kiracofe said. "Just like any coach, I would have liked to have won them all, but we saw a lot of good performances this week."
NSU opened the first set much like how the team closed the match against Troy on Friday night, making a 5-0 run and extending the score to 6-2 before Jackson State answered to make the set competitive.
The Lady Demons struggled to build a lead against the Tigers (1-4), having to come back from down 23-22 to win the set 25-23.
In the second set, Jackson State shut down the Lady Demons early as the Tigers built a 16-13 lead, forcing an NSU timeout.
Coming out of the timeout, NSU dominated as the team went on a 37-16 run to close out the rest of the second set and the third set.
"It's cliché in the sports world, but during the second set we were playing not to lose and we didn't have a purpose when we made plays," Kiracofe said. "It was pretty simple during the timeout, go out there with a purpose and make plays to score points."
The Lady Demons made a change at setter, bringing in freshman Charli Fouts in the second set that stimulated the offensive and defensive onslaught.
"Charli came in and really got things going for us," Kiracofe said. "She was offensive at the net, and that gave a different look to Jackson State's defense.
"We had become repetitive on offense, so they were getting comfortable with how to defend us, and Charli was able to disrupt that. Then she went back and gave us a good run serving which put is in a position to win the second and then pull away in the 3rd."
Another freshman, outside hitter Hannah Brister, came in during the second set and provided a new look for the Lady Demons on her way to six kills and a .500 hitting percentage.
"Hannah came in and really did well and played a role in saving things versus Jackson State," Kiracofe said.
The Lady Demons travel to Oxford, Mississippi, on Thursday to partake in the Rebel Classic. NSU will face Ole Miss and Mercer on Thursday and Austin Peay on Friday.
Updates will be posted on Twitter @NSUdemonsVB.
