HOUSTON – Northwestern State was unable to capture the same efficiency it saw earlier this month against Houston Baptist, falling in straight sets to the highly-motivated Huskies on Thursday 3-0 (25-14, 25-21, 25-15).
 
The Lady Demons had to work from behind in each of the three sets as the Huskies jumped out to leads of three or more within the first 10 serves of each set. Only once did NSU work its way back from the early deficits to make the final points more tense.
 
After working back to a two-point game at 9-7, the Huskies made their first big run of the night scoring five of the next six points to extend their lead back into comfortable territory. The Lady Demons pushed back with a 4-1 stretch thanks to a pair of kills from Audrey Quesnel plus a block from the sophomore middle along with Breanna Burrell.
 
The 15-12 margin was as close as NSU would get the rest of the set as the Huskies controlled the final points on a 10-2 set-winning run.
 
"The first half of the first set really played out the same way it did when we met up in Natchitoches," head coach Sean Kiracofe said. "HBU won those battles this time whether it was a block, tool,or finding a way to score after a long rally. We knew they were going to be highly motivated for payback after we beat them in the first match and that was very evident tonight. 
 
They were focused and they executed consistently. We played well at times but unfortunately got passive when we didn't get the results we wanted. In the big picture, we accomplished what we needed to against a good team by splitting with them home and home."
 
The Lady Demons faced their largest early deficit of the night in the second set with HBU jumping out to an 8-1 lead. A pair of kills from Burrell and another from Kate Idrogo started the Lady Demons on the comeback trail.
 
Continually chipping away over the next several points, a kill from Symone Wesley and an ace from Quesnel make it a two-point game with the momentum on NSU's side. The Huskies stymied the energy with two of their 10 blocks on the night in a quick 3-0 burst that pushed the lead back to five.
 
Running low on time in the second, Burrell and Jaylibeth Garcia-Rosa provided a late spark as NSU tried to hold off set point. Four kills from the duo made the final few serves of the set interesting but HBU eventually got the needed point to take the 2-0 match lead.
 
NSU outscored HBU by a score of 20-17 playing its best volleyball of the night after falling behind early but the deficit was too great down the stretch.
 
It wasn't until after another Burrell kill gave NSU the early 6-5 lead that the Huskies made their first push of the third set. Five straight points on five straight kills gave them the edge, igniting a 14-4 run that spelled the end for the Lady Demons and leading to the 25-15 final set. 
 
Burrell ended the match with 10 kills, the only Lady Demon to reach double figures. Haley Hoang picked up a match-leading 20 digs and Piper Boydstun had her seventh double-double of the season with 26 assists and 13 digs.
 
The Lady Demons travel to Lake Charles on Saturday for a 1 p.m. match with McNeese.