NEW ORLEANS – The only scary thing about Northwestern State volleyball's Halloween match at New Orleans was how good the Lady Demons were in the win.
 
The Lady Demons (17-8, 9-2 SLC) won a close first set then had little trouble the rest of the way, sweeping the Privateers (11-15, 4-8 SLC) in dominant fashion 25-23, 25-10, 25-15.
 
As has been the case, the Lady Demons used the first set to get a feel for what their opponent was doing and how they planned to attack them. The set remained close until UNO used a 4-0 run to put a little space between the teams.
 
NSU answered the 4-0 swing with one of their own on a pair of kills from Alexis Warren, another from Kourtney Season and an ace from Haley Hoang to knot the match at 17. A second 4-0 run, coming at the perfect time, pushed the Lady Demons over the top in the set, thanks in large part to three UNO errors in a row. Reagan Lee capped the mild comeback with a devastating kill that insured the potential hangover from the loss to Stephen F. Austin was not a factor.
 
The second and third were squarely in the hands of the Lady Demons from the outset. NSU attackers took enough good swings in the first to fill a plastic pumpkin but were just off the mark. That changed dramatically after the first frame.
 
"UNO is always a good serving team," coach Sean Kiracofe said. "But as our passers settled down I think it allowed our attackers to get a better look at the defense. Once they were able to see what was available it was just a matter of being consistent."
 
The Lady Demons dominated the second with a .500 hitting percentage and sprinted to a 13-6 lead using every tactic in their bag. Hannah Brister found the court 16 times on the night with kills, Lee and Kourtney Seaton combined for six block assists, and Brister and Honag each tallied five aces between them.
 
NSU closed the 25-10 second set with five straight kills from four different players. They finished the match with a 7-0 run in the third with two blocks, and four straight points from Brister.
 
While Brister continued her dominance offensively, it was setter Skylar Besch that provided an almost impossible to defend offensive wrinkle for the Lady Demons. Besch had a career-high nine kills on 14 error-free attempts, choosing the perfect opportunities to catch the UNO defense napping.
 
"We always believe that Skylar can provide offense for us and demands respect from the defense," Kiracofe said. "I'm always impressed that she is conservative with her offense and let's her attackers score, but tonight was just her night to keep going."
 
Early in the second set, senior Alexis Warren recorded her 1,000^thcareer dig at NSU. She joins teammate Megan Lohmiller in the 1,000-dig club and is the 10^thplayer in school history to reach the impressive milestone.
 
"The consistency is what she has meant to us for her four years here," Kiracofe said. "I'm happy that she was able to get there and it proves something in a very specific way of what she means to us."
 
The Lady Demons continue their road trip to Thibodaux, La., for a Saturday tilt with Nicholls beginning at 1 p.m.
 
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