COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Earlier in the week head coach Sean Kiracofe said the tournament at Texas A&M would be the toughest of the season. After Friday's results, it seems that Kiracofe was right in his prediction. 
 
Northwestern State volleyball suffered two straight set losses to Texas A&M (25-23, 25-12, 25-17) and Texas State (25-21, 25-21, 25-15), dropping their record to 6-5 on the season. 
 
Texas A&M 3, Northwestern State 0
 
The Lady Demons were solid early in the first set against one of the top teams in the SEC. Kills from Hannah Brister and a pair of block errors by the Aggies put NSU up 8-6. It didn't take long for A&M to recover from the run that gave the Lady Demons the lead. A 7-1 stretch immediately after, put the home team up 13-9.
 
NSU, down by as much as five, continued to battle with the Aggies and a late 6-2 push evened the first set at 22 after two big blocks from Alexis Warren and Kourtney Seaton. The Aggies scored three of the last four total points, including back-to-back kills, to take the close first set 25-23.
 
"We definitely fought hard in the first set and had a chance to steal that game to get out to a good start," coach Sean Kiracofe said. "A&M has a few players that serve incredibly tough. It doesn't show up in the box score, but overall we handled that really well which says a lot about our ability in serve receive."
 
The second and third sets were controlled throughout by Texas A&M. A 9-1 run early in the second gave the Aggies a big lead they closed out at 25-12. The third started close, but another run, this time 8-1, gave A&M plenty of cushion to work with the rest of the way. 
 
The Lady Demons were stymied at the net multiple times with the big block of Texas A&M. The Aggies recorded 13 total blocks in the match, to NSU's three.
 
The adjustments the Lady Demons made to defend parts of the A&M attack left them open to others. But there were still areas Kiracofe was pleased with from the Lady Demons.
 
"We avoided aces but started pulling our setters too far off the net in the second, which made us predictable," Kiracofe said. "When you get predictable against a team with that kind of size at the net it usually turns into points for the other team.  
 
"Overall, we did a lot of good things against a team that's in the top third of the SEC. We defended the most dynamic attackers we'll see and created offense against the biggest block we'll see this year. I have to be happy about that."
 
 
Texas State 3, Northwestern State 0
 
The Lady Demons fought their way back from a five-point deficit in the opening set after trailing 17-12. The work they put in got them within two points at 21-19 after a Texas State service error. Three straight from the Bobcats though gave them set-point, and despite an Alexis Warren kill, TSU finished the frame with at 25-12.
 
The second set was the Lady Demons from the start. A 5-0 run with a pair of kills from Hannah Brister and an ace from Kourtney Seaton put NSU ahead 6-2. NSU held its lead for the bulk of the set, but the Bobcat continued to chip away and tied the frame at 18.
 
The beginning of the set belonged to the Lady Demons, but the end was all Texas State. A 7-2 finish by the Bobcats sealed the second in their favor and put NSU behind 2-0.
 
With the third set tied at nine, Texas State jumped ahead on a 10-2 stretch that saw four NSU errors build the Bobcat lead. Reagan Lee added two late kills in the set, but Texas State closed the match with a 6-2 run and took the match sweep.
 
Brister scored in double figures for the 10^thtime this season, extending her streak to 20 consecutive matches with 10 or more kills. Darria Williams and Lee combined for seven total blocks defensively.
 
The Lady Demons return to Prather Coliseum next Wednesday afternoon hosting Prairie View A&M at 1 p.m.
 
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