ABILENE, Texas – In a match full of runs, the Northwestern State volleyball team found itself on the wrong side of the biggest one Thursday night.
Abilene Christian used a huge third-set surge to erase a double-figure deficit and turn the momentum its way before closing out a 3-1 (25-19, 25-27, 25-23, 25-17) victory at Moody Coliseum.
"We match up and can compete with anyone in the league," fourth-year head coach
Sean Kiracofe said. "There are a few points during a match that just mean more than the rest, and we need to recognized and win those against the top teams to put those teams away. And when we put in the work to gain a big lead, we have to learn how to close the door."
In both the second and third sets, Northwestern State (8-11, 4-5) built big early leads before the Wildcats (11-10, 8-1) forced their way back into each set.
NSU erased a 2-0 lead in the second set with an 11-1 run and, while the Wildcats never took the lead, Abilene Christian forced extra points thanks to consecutive kills by Sydney Shelstead that tied the set at 24.
The Lady Demons regained their composure and held on to even the match at one set each as
Hannah Brister delivered one of her 11 kills and ACU's Jacey Smith had an attack error to seal NSU's 27-25 victory.
After allowing the Wildcats to overcome an eight-point deficit in the second set, Northwestern State started the third set even faster, opening up a 16-6 lead before Abilene Christian tallied four straight points.
That was just the beginning of a total shift in the set. Following a Northwestern State timeout, the Wildcats added two more points to their run before
Alexis Warren stopped the surge with a kill.
Warren led four Lady Demons in double-figure kills with 13, but her kill wasn't enough to stop a Wildcats team that completely flipped the switch in the third set. After committing four errors as Northwestern State built its 10-point lead, the Wildcats limited themselves to just two errors the rest of the third set to wrest momentum from Northwestern State.
In the final set, Abilene Christian committed only one error, hitting .485 in the final set. That efficiency allowed ACU to snap an 8-all tie with a 4-0 run that gave the Wildcats a lead they would not relinquish.
"They say football is a game of inches," Kiracofe said. "Well, volleyball can come down to a few points and moments. We keep putting ourselves in those moments, and now we need to win them."
Reagan Rogers (12),
Madeline Drake (12) and Brister (12) joined Warren on the double-figure kill list for Northwestern State, which hit .162 against an ACU defense that posted 13 blocks.
Channing Burleson tallied 23 digs as each team had 73 digs in the four-set match.
Smith (16), Katelyn Mueller (15) and Marybeth Sandercox (10) had double-figure kills for ACU, which got a match-high 32 digs from libero Lillian Drever.
The Lady Demons remain on the road when they return to action Saturday at Sam Houston State. First serve is set for 1 p.m. in Huntsville, Texas.
