NATCHITOCHES – Entering Thursday night's Southland Conference volleyball match between Houston Baptist and Northwestern State, the two were separated by a half game in the league standings.
 
Befitting that tightness in the standings, the teams engaged in a back-and-forth affair at Prather Coliseum that Houston Baptist's Mikayla Vivens ended with a kill that secured the Huskies' 3taut -2 (25-22, 20-25, 26-28, 25-23, 15-13) victory.
 
"It was a good match," fourth-year head coach Sean Kiracofe said. "It was close. We played them as tough as you can possibly play them in a five-set match. It didn't go our way.
 
"I've talked about this before, there are points in a set, in a match, that just mean more, and unfortunately this year, more often than not, they haven't gone our way. It can be boiled down to a few moments and points, but the more often we're in them, the more we can learn from them and turn them around to where they go our way."
 
In a match filled with twists and turns, the Lady Demons (9-13, 5-7) were unable to land the knockout punch against the visiting Huskies (13-14, 6-7), who moved a half-game up on NSU in the conference standings.
 
Aside from Northwestern State's five-point victory in the second set, the remainder of the match was played with the teams within four points o one another at all times.
 
The Lady Demons appeared to have seized control of the match, fighting off a pair of set points in the third before an attack error by HBU's Kelly Colwell allowed the Lady Demons to grab a 2-1 advantage.
 
Hannah Brister highlighted her career-best 23-kill performance with eight kills in the third set, including two straight that erased a 26-25 HBU advantage and put the Lady Demons in position to pull ahead.
 
"Offensively at the net, she's just on a roll," Kiracofe said. "She's making things happen. In good situations, she's taking advantage of it, and in bad situations, she's turning them into positive things for us. She still has a ways to go in being consistent on the back row and in serve receive, but every time she's back there, she's improving. It's great to see her evolve in that position."
 
After the Lady Demons outlasted HBU in the third set, the teams exchanged small runs in the fourth set before Reagan Rogers knocked down a kill to even the set at 22.
 
A service error allowed HBU to regain the lead, and despite another Rogers kill, even the match when Vivens slammed down one of her match-high 25 kills to secure the set.
 
The fifth set played out in similar fashion with Northwestern State battling back from a 12-9 deficit to cut the lead to one on two occasions before Vivens delivered the clincher on a big swing to the center of the back line.
 
"We have to make those things happen," KIracofe said.
 
In addition to Brister's career-best night, Madeline Drake added 12 kills while Channing Burleson notched a match-high 28 digs, including 11 in the third set.
 
Colwell (12) and Ashtyn Richey (10) joined Vivens as Huskies with double-figure kills.
 
Northwestern State returns to action Saturday at 1 p.m. when it faces Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Senior Day at Prather Coliseum.  
NATCHITOCHES – Entering Thursday night's Southland Conference volleyball match between Houston Baptist and Northwestern State, the two were separated by a half game in the league standings.
 
Befitting that tightness in the standings, the teams engaged in a back-and-forth affair at Prather Coliseum that Houston Baptist's Mikayla Vivens ended with a kill that secured the Huskies' 3taut -2 (25-22, 20-25, 26-28, 25-23, 15-13) victory.
 
"It was a good match," fourth-year head coach Sean Kiracofe said. "It was close. We played them as tough as you can possibly play them in a five-set match. It didn't go our way.
 
"I've talked about this before, there are points in a set, in a match, that just mean more, and unfortunately this year, more often than not, they haven't gone our way. It can be boiled down to a few moments and points, but the more often we're in them, the more we can learn from them and turn them around to where they go our way."
 
In a match filled with twists and turns, the Lady Demons (9-13, 5-7) were unable to land the knockout punch against the visiting Huskies (13-14, 6-7), who moved a half-game up on NSU in the conference standings.
 
Aside from Northwestern State's five-point victory in the second set, the remainder of the match was played with the teams within four points o one another at all times.
 
The Lady Demons appeared to have seized control of the match, fighting off a pair of set points in the third before an attack error by HBU's Kelly Colwell allowed the Lady Demons to grab a 2-1 advantage.
 
Hannah Brister highlighted her career-best 23-kill performance with eight kills in the third set, including two straight that erased a 26-25 HBU advantage and put the Lady Demons in position to pull ahead.
 
"Offensively at the net, she's just on a roll," Kiracofe said. "She's making things happen. In good situations, she's taking advantage of it, and in bad situations, she's turning them into positive things for us. She still has a ways to go in being consistent on the back row and in serve receive, but every time she's back there, she's improving. It's great to see her evolve in that position."
 
After the Lady Demons outlasted HBU in the third set, the teams exchanged small runs in the fourth set before Reagan Rogers knocked down a kill to even the set at 22.
 
A service error allowed HBU to regain the lead, and despite another Rogers kill, even the match when Vivens slammed down one of her match-high 25 kills to secure the set.
 
The fifth set played out in similar fashion with Northwestern State battling back from a 12-9 deficit to cut the lead to one on two occasions before Vivens delivered the clincher on a big swing to the center of the back line.
 
"We have to make those things happen," KIracofe said.
 
In addition to Brister's career-best night, Madeline Drake added 12 kills while Channing Burleson notched a match-high 28 digs, including 11 in the third set.
 
Colwell (12) and Ashtyn Richey (10) joined Vivens as Huskies with double-figure kills.
 
Northwestern State returns to action Saturday at 1 p.m. when it faces Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Senior Day at Prather Coliseum.