HAMMOND – A slow start proved too much for Northwestern State to overcome as it fell in straight sets 3-0 (25-12, 25-19, 26-24) to Southeastern on Thursday night.
The Lady Demons (10-18, 4-9) were kept off balance through the majority of the match due in large part to the effective serves from the Lady Lions. Six service aces in the first set established the tone of the night and created periods of ineffective passing by NSU.
"The only other match we passed that poorly from start to finish was ULM at the beginning of the year," head coach
Sean Kiracofe said. "That match turned out similar to this one.
"The good thing is that I give a pretty simple synopsis of what they did to attack us. Fixing it isn't as simple if we don't execute on our side of the net. At the end of the third we did what we needed to, but that small amount of time isn't going to cut it."
The normally steady NSU serve receive surrendered five aces early in the opening set. Those points helped spur a 10-1 run creating a hole too deep for the Lady Demons climb out.
Symone Wesley was able to score three times in quick succession late in the set, but the result had all but been decided as Southeastern (9-17, 7-7) sprinted to the 25-12 set win.
The Lady Demons were better able to handle the sharp the rest of the match, allowing just two more aces, but the moments of inconsistent passing prevented an offensive rhythm to be established.
The first run of the second set came when SLU jumped ahead by three thanks to a pair of kills and a block that made it a 10-7 game. After pulling back within a point on a kill from
Jaylibeth Garcia-Rosa, the teams traded the next four before another outburst from the Lions, this time a 5-1 stretch, made it a 19-14 affair.
A kill from Wesley and a solo block from Garcia-Rosa, her conference-leading 31
st of the season, brought NSU back with three at 20-17 but SLU found four kills across the next seven serves to secure the set and the 2-0 match lead.
Consecutive kills from
Audrey Quesnel and Wesley pulled the Lady Demons within a point midway through the third set, erasing the early SLU lead. The 7-3 stretch that followed put the Lady Lions back up by five and poised to sprint to the finish.
A critical kill from
Breanna Burrell gave NSU some momentum and after three straight SLU miscues it was once again a one-point game, 20-19. The Demons received more clutch plays from Quesnel and a devastating block from
Addison McDermott and Garcia-Rosa that tied the set at 23, capping a 3-0 NSU burst.
Wesley evened the match again at 24, forcing extra points, but and NSU error gave the Lions their second match point, one they sealed away with a final kill.
Wesley led NSU with nine kills and a .280 hitting percentage.
Haley Hoang and
Autumn Gentry both reached double-digit digs with 11 and 10 respectively and
Ragan Ward led with 15 assists.
The Lady Demons close the regular season at home on Saturday with a 1 p.m. match against Nicholls.
