CAPE GIRARDEAU, Missouri – For the first time in six years, the Northwestern State volleyball team swept a three-match regular-season tournament.
 
The Lady Demons spread out their offense and saw Hannah Brister deliver perhaps the best all-around match of her career as Northwestern State defeated Redhawks Invitational host Southeast Missouri State, 3-1 (25-17, 24-26, 25-23, 25-14), on Saturday afternoon.
 
"You try, as a coach, to make it sound like it doesn't matter, but it's good to come in and win three straight and be the outright champion," said fourth-year head coach Sean Kiracofe, whose team split the tournament championship at the 2017 Troy Invitational.
 
For the third time in as many matches in the tournament, the Lady Demons (4-2) had three players register double-figure kills.

Brister led the way with a career-best 21 kills while committing just three errors. She added a career-high 25 digs, tying Channing Burleson for match-high honors.
 
"She was really unstoppable," Kiracofe said. "We used her a lot on the back row, and they were good defending it at first. She kept finding the back corner and the line. She found ways to score. Defensively, they ran her around back there, but she was able to pick up a lot of balls and kept a lot of rallies going."
 
Tournament Most Valuable Player Reagan Rogers posted her third straight double-double (17 kills, 11 digs) while all-tournament selection Madeline Drake added 10 kills and five total blocks (2 solo, 3 assists) as NSU notched a season-best 12 blocks as a team.
 
After putting together a strong first set, Northwestern State appeared on its way to taking a 2-0 lead in the match by building a 20-15 second-set lead on a kill by Burleson, NSU's third all-tournament selection.
 
However, the Redhawks (5-2) used a pair of blocks and a couple of NSU errors to rally for the second-set victory.
 
SEMO continued to use that momentum early in the third set and led 23-21 before Sylar Besch (49 assists) set up Brooke Wood for a kill that led to a Redhawks timeout. Following the break, Darria Williams and Rogers sandwiched kills around a Redhawks attack error to clinch the set.
 
"We talked about it going into the match that SEMO would be very difficult to defend if they could pass and get the ball to the net," Kiracofe said. "We saw that in the second it. It took us a while to settle down. We had some unforced errors, but we settled down when it mattered. That's what I was happiest about. We finally played some consistent volleyball when it mattered."
 
In the decisive fourth set, Brister was everywhere, delivering six kills and nine digs, and NSU used a 7-1 spurt midway through the set to take complete control of the match.
 
In all three matches in Missouri, the Lady Demons had three players reach double figures in kills. Rogers and Drake did so in all three with Brister collecting at least 10 kills in two matches and Alexis Warren doing so in the opening match against Radford.
 
For the tournament, NSU hit .259 as a team, flashing its depth throughout its first regular-season tournament sweep since the 2012 UT Arlington Hilton Invitational.
 
"Everyone can look at the stats from last year and see (Rogers) is our go-to player so they push all their defense to her," Kiracofe said. "They all know it's coming, so it says a lot about everyone stepping up. With the depth we have this year, we've been able to do that with a lot of different people."
 
After completing a 4-0 week, Northwestern State returns to action Friday when it opens play in the Tulsa Volleyball Invitational . NSU faces Oral Roberts at 4:30 p.m. Friday in one of its two matches in the event.