NATCHITOCES – After a slow start to the night and a tense second set win, Northwestern State found its stride on the right arms of Symone Wesley and Breanna Burrell for a 3-1 (22-25, 27-25, 25-20, 25-10) win.
 
The duo combined for 35 kills on the night, with Wesley setting a new career high with a match-leading 18, and each hitting over .380, as the Lady Demons (9-14, 3-5) picked up their third straight win on Thursday night.
 
Wesley started the match with five kills on just one error in the first set but the NSU offense as a whole had not quite settled into the match. Four unforced NSU attack errors gave New Orleans (1-15, 1-7) nearly half of its first 10 points and put the Lady Demons behind 11-6 early.
 
The offense started to find its footing late in the set, committing just one error the rest of the way. A late 4-1 burst by NSU, created slight tension on the Privateer side but a Trinity Jackson kill secured the 25-22 opening win.
 
"It was a slow start for everybody in the first set even though we hung around there and had a chance to take it," head coach Sean Kiracofe said. "We had to compete towards the end of the second where it was close. We did what we did in New Orleans a week ago and buckled down and took care of business. That set us up to be able to take the match."
 
What turned out to be the pivotal set of the night, and the turning point for the Lady Demons, had the potential to go either way through the majority of play. A total of 16 ties in the second set alone, more than the entire rest of the match combined, created a tense and exciting finish.
 
UNO jumped ahead late with a 3-0 burst making it a 17-14 game. After an NSU timeout, back-to-back kills from Jaylibeth Garcia-Rosa started a 7-1 run that put the Lady Demons in the driver's seat. Kills from Wesley, Burrell and Audrey Quesnel during the run helped work NSU to a 24-21 set-point advantage. 
 
Three straight points from UNO tied the game at 24, forcing extra points. After another NSU timeout it didn't take long for the Lady Demons to put thing to bed. Quesnell put NSU back up 26-25 and Addison McDermott placed the ball perfectly on a tip kill for the winner swinging all the momentum to the home side.
 
"We beat this team last week, so we knew what we needed to do," Wesley said about the pivotal moment at the end of the second. "We've been working on certain things in practice like going high hands and stuff like that. I feel like we were just able to execute that at the end of the set." 
 
With the energy in the gym peaking after the McDermott winner, the Lady Demons capitalized on the boost from the crowd in the third and fourth sets.
 
"Hearing everyone in the student section being loud and making weird noises and doing weird stuff was awesome," Burrell said. "That energy helps a lot more than people think."
 
Tied at 10 in the third, NSU went on a 10-2 run to take control of the game. Four kills from Wesley during the stretch, along with a pair of blocks from Garcia-Rosa and Burrell gave the Lady Demons a commanding 19-11 lead.
 
Just like she did to end the second, McDermott found a well-placed tip shot in the third to secure the 25-20 winner after UNO make a 4-0 push to close the gap.
 
The fourth set belonged solely and completely to the home team. A 5-1 start turned into a 12-3 lead in the blink of an eye as Burrell and Quesnel pounded home four straight kills early. The Lady Demons were all gas from that point on cruising to a 25-10 match-winning set.
 
Wesley finished the night with her third straight double-double, setting new career highs in kills and attack percentage. Burrell ended with 17 kills while Garcia-Rosa and Quesnel each added eight from the middle and McDermott added seven more.
 
The Lady Demons return to action next week with a trip to Houston Baptist on Oct 28.