LAKE CHARLES – An afternoon of offensive inconsistencies proved costly for Northwestern State who fell to McNeese in straight sets, 3-0 (25-16, 25-22, 25-18), for the second time this season.

"We came out in the first set, and to say it plainly, didn't do our jobs," head coach Sean Kiracofe said. "I was happy with the mental changes we made at the end of the first and into the second, but McNeese has a lot of weapons that are playing well right now. When we had lapses in different areas of the game at the end of the second, you lose close sets like that.

"The opportunities for us to have better blocking effectiveness were there and will be an important variable if we see them again the conference tournament. I also liked the situations we were able to create offensively, but we were not able to execute on a consistent basis."

It took most of the opening set for the Lady Demons (9-16, 3-7) to find their first glimpse of regular production after four early attack errors helped McNeese (13-9, 7-4) to a commanding 13-4 lead. A pair of kills from Addison McDermott, who led the Lady Demons with eight in the match, closed the gap to within five, but the ensuing 8-1 run all but sealed away the opening set for the Cowgirls.

Some late swings from Breanna Burrell, Kate Idrogo and Reagan Lee helped give the Lady Demons some momentum heading into the second set.

Jaylibeth Garcia-Rosa used that energy to propel NSU to and early 5-0 lead. Three aces from the junior middle blocker within the first five serves gave the Lady Demons their largest lead of the match right out of the gate.

McNeese erased the deficit with a 6-2 stretch and eventually worked their way back on top behind a 7-2 run to take a three-point lead. The Lady Demons scored the next three points on kills from McDermott and Lee and the fourth ace of the set from Garcia-Rosa, evening the game at 14.

The ensuing 7-2 McNeese run, however, gave the Cowgirls enough space to hold off a late NSU charge down the stretch.

After trading points until the 23-18 mark, the Lady Demons rattled off four straight, with two more coming from the service line, this time by Symone Wesley, making it a one-point game, forcing a McNeese timeout. The break halted the NSU momentum, settling the Cowgirls who found the final two points to take the second 25-22.

The Cowgirls turned the tables to start the third with three aces in the first few serves to take a 7-1 lead in the final set. Down by five later in the set it was McDermott again that provided a pair of needed kills in a 6-1 NSU run that made it a close 11-10 affair.

A Lee kill and McNeese error tied things at 13 moments later, but the Lady Demons could not sustain the pressure and the Cowgirls picked up four kills, and ace and a block in their match-winning 6-1 run to pull ahead for good.

The Lady Demons return to Prather Coliseum for two matches next week beginning with UIW on Thursday night at 6:30 p.m.