NORMAN, Oklahoma – During the non-conference season, the Northwestern State volleyball team proved adept at making adjustments within matches.
 
Saturday morning, the Lady Demons proved they could put a tough performance behind them quickly.
 
Facing their third Power Five opponent this season, Northwestern State turned in its best performance against one of those foes, falling 3-1 (25-21, 17-25, 22-25, 23-25) to Texas A&M in its final match at the Oklahoma Nike Invitational.
 
"It was good to bounce back and play our volleyball before going into conference play," said fourth-year head coach Sean Kiracofe, whose team fell to 4-6 overall. "Also to do that with a number of players up and down the roster says a lot about our depth for the rest of the season."
 
The Lady Demons took advantage of a slow start by Texas A&M (7-4) to grab a victory in Set 1.
 
Junior setter Cayman Sutton made her first start as a Lady Demon  and spread around the offense in a set where Northwestern State hit .324 while limiting the Aggies to a .133 mark.
 
Three Lady Demons – Alexis Warren (4), Hannah Brister (4) and Reagan Rogers (3) – had at least three kills while Sutton added two kills to her 14 first-set assists.
 
It set the tone for perhaps Northwestern State's best performance against a Power Five opponent in Kiracofe's four seasons at the helm of the NSU program and one of its best against any opponent.
 
"Considering the competition on the other side of the net, I would say yes," Kiracofe said. "I go back to the Radford match (on Aug. 31) where we were methodical, made big plays and smart plays when possible. That match, relatively, was on part with this one against A&M."
 
While the Lady Demons were unable to collect another set victory against Texas A&M, they remained in two of the final three sets until the final point.
 
After the Aggies took an eight-point win in the second set, neither team could gain much of an advantage in the third set. Brooke Wood and Brister combined on a pair of blocks as part of a 4-0 run that gave NSU a 12-9 lead.
 
That three-point edge was the largest of the set for either team until the Aggies used a 3-0 run sandwiched around an NSU timeout to capture the set.
 
After another tight start to the fourth set, the Aggies took a slight lead midway through the fourth set, but Northwestern State did not allow Texas A&M to stretch the lead until the Aggies grabbed a 21-17 lead.
 
Behind another four-kill set by Warren, the Lady Demons battled back and cut the lead to 24-23 on a block by Madeline Drake and Brister before Hollan Hans' match-high 21^st kill sealed A&M's victory.
 
Warren led Northwestern State with a season-best 12 kills on a .286 hitting percentage. Rogers added 11 kills and 15 digs for her fifth double-double of the season. Wood set career highs with a pair of block solos and eight total blocks while Sutton established a career high in assists for the second straight match with 38.
 
"Lex had a great match, also very similar to her performance against Radford," Kiracofe said. "She just made good decisions and didn't try to be too perfect with her swings. She had a good shot selection and then let the defensive see if they could handle it."
 
Northwestern State returns to action Thursday when it opens Southland Conference play by hosting Incarnate Word at 6:30 p.m. inside Prather Coliseum.