NEW ORLEANS – Northwestern State proved there is no I in team on Thursday night getting quality production offensively and defensively from every part of the court in a hard-fought 3-1 (23-25, 26-24, 25-23, 25-17) win at New Orleans.
 
The Lady Demons (8-13, 2-4) saw five different players collect 10 or more digs, four contribute 10 or more kills and had three players record double-doubles in the win, the most instances of each of those things in one match all season.
 
"We had to spread the ball around offensively and had a lot of different people step up to provide offense for us which was good to see," head coach Sean Kiracofe said. "UNO was a very scrappy team that made us earn those points. 
 
They also forced our defense to step up in a lot of different ways. To see multiple people step up on defense consistently though the match, and specifically at the end of sets, should be more validation on the work they have put in at practice."
 
The Privateers (1-13, 1-5) committed five errors early in the first set that helped give NSU a comfortable 12-5 lead. After an NSU error and three-of-four serves going for UNO aces, the Privateers settled into the match offensively in a major way. 
 
The early miscues were no more as UNO committed none the rest of the set and used a 7-2 run late in the set to take the lead and pull off the comeback 25-23 win.
 
The success UNO enjoyed winning the first set carried over into the beginnings of the second as the error-free streak lasted through its first 12 points of the frame. The stretch finally ending on an attack error that made it a 12-8 Privateer lead.
 
UNO held as much as a four-point lead late in the second set but the constant pressure applied by the Lady Demons began to pay off down the stretch. 
 
After a slow start to the match, Breanna Burrell found her swing when it mattered most scoring four kills in a five-point stretch for NSU that tied the match on two different occasions at 20 and 21.  NSU surrendered the next three points allowing UNO the opportunity to seize a 2-0 match lead on its home floor.
 
A kill from Audrey Quesnel held off the first set point and then consecutive blocks from Quesnel and Kate Idrogo evened the match at 24. A Privateer error presented NSU with its first set point of the night and Symone Wesley drilled the ball down the line capping the 5-0 run to give the Demons the 26-24 set win.
 
UNO jumped out to an early lead in the third just like it did in the second and once again a late rally by the Lady Demons was the deciding factor.
 
Down by four after a 3-0 burst from UNO, Jaylibeth Garcia-Rosa began a stretch of seven straight kills for the Demons that flipped the set on its head. Burrell and Idrogo alternated the next four to put NSU ahead and Quesnel added to the lead at 21-19.
 
After two unsuccessful set point attempts, Garcia-Rosa and Idrogo ended the second as emphatically as Wesley ended the first with a block that pushed the Demons ahead 2-1 in the match.
 
Two come-from-behind wins on late-set rallies moved all the momentum to the NSU side of the net where it would stay for the rest of the match. A 5-1 run early in the fourth gave the Demons an 8-5 lead and despite one push by the Privateers to pull within a point a few serves later, NSU would not be denied.
 
Another impressive stretch of six straight NSU points on kills made it a five-point lead and a late block from Garcia-Rosa and Piper Boydstun put the Purple and White up by a touchdown 21-14. Wesley finished the night with her 13^th kill, another missile down the line, ending the Demon-controlled set 25-17.
 
Burrell led all players with 14 kills on the night, followed immediately by Wesley (13), Idrogo (12) and Garcia-Rosa (11). The NSU defense covered the floor with a blanket all night let by Wesley's 22 digs and Haley Hoang's 19. Both Boydstun and Idrogo added 12 each and Autumn Gentry had 11.
 
It was the fifth kill-dig double-double this season for Wesley and second for Idrogo and the fifth assist-dig double-double for Boydstun.
 
The Lady Demons continue the road weekend with a 1 p.m. match on Saturday at Nicholls.