BEAUMONT, Texas – As the Southland Conference Volleyball Tournament draws closer, host Northwestern State is playing some of its best volleyball of the season.
 
The Lady Demons collected their third straight sweep in Southland Conference play on Thursday night, taking down Lamar in straight sets, 25-21, 25-16, 25-20, at McDonald Gym.
 
The win, coupled with Houston Baptist's loss to Incarnate Word, moved Northwestern State (12-13, 8-7) into sole possession of fifth place in the conference standings with only Saturday's regular-season finale at McNeese remaining.
 
Lamar (6-20, 3-12) started fast in the opening set, building a 7-1 lead after its Senior Night ceremony. The Lady Demons stayed the course and answered with a 5-1 run to slice the lead to two. For the rest of the set, Northwestern State remained within striking distance until unleashing a 9-1 run to close the set.
 
That opening-set finish was similar to the 5-1 blitz NSU used to close out the opening set in the teams' Oct. 13 meeting in Natchitoches and typified the team's growth since falling to 4-6 in conference play on Oct. 20.
 
"We have definitely started to gain more composure in difficult moments and at the end of sets, which is going to allow you to get wins in tough situations," fourth-year head coach Sean Kiracofe said.
 
Northwestern State flashed that same composure around the middle part of the final two sets.
 
In the second, it came by virtue of a 7-1 run that turned an 11-10 deficit into a five-point lead that the Lady Demons continued to extend the remainder of the set, grabbing a 25-16 victory to go up two sets.
 
The third set played out in similar fashion with Lamar pulling even at 10 and then 14 before the Lady Demons scored eight of the next 12 points to take control of the final set.
 
While Lamar aided those rallies with a combined 13 errors in the final two sets, Northwestern State made it happen as well. NSU hit a robust .524 (12 kills, 1 error) on 21 second-set attacks and outhit Lamar .184-.147 in the clinching set.
 
Hannah Brister continued her late-season surge with a match-high 16 kills and three of Northwestern State's five service aces. Brister added five digs and three block assists while turning in a solid performance in serve receive.
 
In her past five conference matches, Brister is averaging 4.1 kills per set.
 
"Hannah has been on a great run," Kiracofe said. "What's more impressive is that teams now have some video to scout and can game plan against her, but it has not slowed her down a bit."
 
Brister hit .424 against the Cardinals and helped open the offense up for Alexis Warren, who added nine kills and hit .318 for the match.
 
Northwestern State concludes its regular season with an 11 a.m. Saturday match against McNeese that will have huge implications for next week's conference tournament. The Lady Demons and Cowgirls are two of five teams who stand either 8-7, 7-8 or 8-8 in conference play with one playing date remaining.