NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State volleyball was unable to maintain their edge after taking the opening set against Sam Houston State, dropping their Southland Conference opener on Thursday night.
 
The Lady Demons (8-7) struggled to find their way offensively all night long, hitting a season-low .043 in the 3-1 (21-25, 25-21, 25-22, 25-14) loss to the Bearkats.
 
"The first set was good," coach Sean Kiracofe said. "It showed what we're capable of doing when we're composed and spread the ball around and do smart things. Sam Houston always fights hard.
 
"They played great defense, kept the ball up and they kept giving it back to us in the second and the third. We had opportunities but we got frustrated when they were digging the ball and we did bad things and made bad decisions on that second or third attempt. We expected better."
 
In the opening set, the Lady Demons used a 5-0 run early on to put some distance between themselves and the Bearkats. Three straight kills from Cayman Sutton, Kourtney Seaton, and Alexis Warren made it a 13-7 gamed for NSU.
 
Sam Houston drew with three late in the set, but a pair of errors and block from Reagan Lee gave the edge back to the Lady Demons who would hold on for the 25-21 set win.
 
A long serving rotation for the Bearkats early in the second, with three kills and three NSU attack errors, put Sam Houston in the lead. A lead they would hold the rest of the set. NSU picked up some late momentum, pulling within three on three kills from Warren, but it was too late as the Bearkats evened the match with the 25-21 win.
 
Multiple runs by both teams in the third led to an 18-17 NSU lead on back-to-back devastating block from Lee and Hannah Brister. Two late errors in a 3-0 Sam Houston swing proved to be the dagger for NSU in the third, giving the Bearkats the set point on a service error for the second time in a row.
 
With all the momentum on their side, the Bearkats put a stranglehold on the proceedings in the fourth, using a 7-2 run early to take a 14-7 lead in what would be the final set. A 5-1 stretch at the end cemented the Sam Houston win 25-14.
 
NSU returns to action on Saturday at 11 a.m. as it hosts Houston Baptist to close the first weekend of SLC play.
 
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